Breaches and incidents
McCarthy Tetrault: unauthorized access to firm files including client information
The Globe and Mail reported that McCarthy Tetrault said “an unauthorized third party gained access to certain files” including information relating to...
- Disclosed
- Verification
- Reported by a reputable outlet, citing the company
What happened
- The Globe and Mail reported that McCarthy Tetrault said “an unauthorized third party gained access to certain files” including information relating to clients, caught late on 22 Oct; one source directly involved said 31,000 files were stolen, which the firm declined to confirm. The same article reported a separate breach at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, which described a “compromise of information from one account” after a 23 Oct attack.
- Root cause: not disclosed for McCarthy Tetrault specifically; the Globe reported that phishing was used in at least some of the law firm breaches and that hackers in some cases used Microsoft Teams posing as internal IT staff.
- No attacker named.
- Both firms engaged outside cybersecurity specialists, notified law enforcement and were contacting clients, per the Globe.