Major Cyber Breach Hits Pearl Cohen: Hackers Claim to Steal 1.2TB of Sensitive Data
Approximately three weeks ago, a foreign hacker group known as BianLian successfully breached the data storage systems of the Pearl Cohen law firm, stealing an estimated 1.2 terabytes of sensitive information. The stolen data reportedly includes details about the firm’s clients, employees, as well as technical, business, and email correspondence. Despite these claims, Pearl Cohen has stated that much of the data stolen consists of old and public documents, downplaying the hackers’ threats.
The attack group attempted to extort the firm by demanding a ransom, which Pearl Cohen flatly refused. The law firm emphasized that its current operations have not been affected, and that the breach was swiftly contained. “The breach was closed in a short time,” a firm representative said. “The stolen information appears to be significantly less than what the hackers claim, and the drive mostly contained outdated files.”
Pearl Cohen also reassured clients that the attack had no lasting impact on their systems or ongoing work. The firm immediately brought in cybersecurity specialists from Profero, a leading company in cyber incident response and forensic investigations. Following a thorough review, the firm confirmed that the breach was isolated to a single drive and did not spread to their document management or email systems. Importantly, no encryption or locking of files occurred, which allowed the firm’s work to continue uninterrupted.
The breach follows a similar incident earlier this year, where another major Israeli law firm, Goldfarb Gross Seligman, was also targeted by hackers, resulting in the suspected leak of thousands of sensitive client communications.
Pearl Cohen, with over 320 employees across Israel, the US, and the UK, including 180 lawyers and interns, ranks among the largest law firms in Israel. Despite the attempted breach, the firm remains fully operational and committed to protecting client confidentiality.
In response to the incident, the firm reiterated its ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity measures to prevent future attacks.
Resources: Pearl Cohen, Catalist
