Slater and Gordon refers email investigation findings to police
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Law firm Slater and Gordon has referred findings of its forensic investigation into a malicious email sent to staff in February to Victoria Police.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Slater and Gordon said there are reasonable grounds to suspect the email may have been sent by a former employee who was aware of the firm's security protocols and had previously been authorised to access certain data.
The firm believes its IT team and certain senior executives were deliberately excluded from the 900-strong recipients list.
According to its investigation, more than 10 emails were sent in a move aimed at circumventing email protocols.
No client information was compromised, the investigation found, with data attached to the email understood to have been taken from at least three different internal source documents that have restricted access within the firm.
The context: The malicious email was sent on Friday 21 February to more than 900 recipients.
According to the Financial Review, the email contained criticisms of the firm and the performance of executives and human resources employees.
What they said: In the media statement, Slater and Gordon said there was "no evidence to suggest any current employee, contractor, or external threat actor was involved".
"The email was a premeditated and carefully planned attack which Slater and Gordon condemns in the strongest possible terms."
The firm has said it continues to believe its former chief people officer, Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen, was not responsible for the email.
Slater and Gordon chief executive officer Dina Tutungi said: "This matter continues to be taken extremely seriously by Slater and Gordon, and we have referred the outcomes of the forensic investigation to Victoria Police. We will continue to assist the police with their work.”
“While this malicious incident was unwelcome, our priority remains our people and the critical work we do every day to provide access to justice for our clients.”
The source: Slater and Gordon statement
