Cyber Response

Ruddy, Tomlins & Baxter is currently investigating a cyber incident alongside online claims by an unknown third party that they have accessed some of our information.

We understand this news may cause concern. We wish to assure our clients and other stakeholders that we are investigating this matter as a priority and have taken a range of measures to secure our systems.

 

What have we done in response?

We have implemented our incident response plan, allocated resources to investigate this as a priority, and stood up sophisticated monitoring systems to ensure we are aware of any further developments should they arise. We have also engaged external experts to assist with the matter.

 

Next steps

We would like to assure you that we are taking all appropriate steps to remediate this situation as quickly as possible.

While our investigation is ongoing, we recommend that our clients remain vigilant against the risk of potential phishing emails or scam calls, which are often the most likely risk associated with unauthorised access to any contact information. Should our investigations identify that any personal information has been impacted because of the incident, we will notify affected individuals directly, in line with our obligations.

We provide some cyber safety guidance at the end of this statement which outlines some steps we recommend taking as a precautionary measure.

We have notified the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and are in communication with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and other government agencies about the incident.

We understand that this news may be concerning, and we thank you for your understanding and support. Please do not hesitate to contact us at rtbayr@rtblegal.com.au or rtbbowen@rtblegal.com.au if you have any questions.

Ruddy Tomlins & Baxter

 

Cyber safety guidance

There are steps you can take to help protect yourself against scams:

  • being aware of email, telephone and text-based scams and refraining from sharing personal information unless you are certain about who you are sharing it with;
  • checking your email for suspicious activity for example, you are locked out of your account, find strange emails in your sent folder, or receive password change notifications;
  • periodically changing your passwords;
  • using a password manager for remembering multiple account passwords;
  • enabling multi-factor authentication for your online accounts where possible and ensuring you have up-to-date anti-virus software installed on any device you use to access your online accounts;
  • avoiding clicking on links in suspicious text messages or emails;
  • not responding to phone calls asking for remote access to your computer;
  • checking your bank accounts for strange or unusual activity and contacting your bank immediately if you see anything suspicious

 

More guidance is available here: