In the News: Bert Bender Analyzes Silent Ransom Group’s Targeting of Law Firms in The Legal Intelligencer

Constangy Cyber Team partner Bert Bender authored an article for The Legal Intelligencer analyzing the Silent Ransom Group and their specialized focus on attacking the legal industry.  

Bert highlighted that law firms are primary targets because they maintain sensitive client "crown jewels.” Unlike many groups, Silent does not encrypt data. Instead, they gain access through social engineering and phishing to steal files. They then pressure victims by threatening to post the stolen data on the open internet, forcing firms to choose between paying a ransom or facing significant reputational harm and class action litigation. 

Silent has been active since 2022 and utilizes tools like WinSCP and Rclone to copy data while leaving minimal forensic footprints. These tactics underscore the importance of understanding how data is maintained and protected, as well as the need for robust incident response planning. 

“And of course, the ever-growing risk of being a cyberattack victim reinforces the best time to plan an incident response strategy is before the incident occurs,” said Bert. 

To view the full article, click here.

Bert Bender is a member of the Constangy Cyber Team and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As part of the firm’s incident response team, he assists organizations in responding to data privacy and security incidents, including ransomware attacks, business email compromises, social engineering schemes, and fraudulent wire transfers. Bert coordinates digital forensics investigations, regulatory responses, ransom negotiations, consumer notifications, and remediation efforts, helping clients mitigate operational disruption and third-party liability.