Wall St, law firms plan to bolster online security

New York

THE threat of ever-larger online attacks is bringing together Wall Street banks and the big law firms that do work for them in an alliance that could result in some sharing of basic information about digital security issues.

For nearly a year, banks and law firms have discussed setting up a legal group that would be affiliated with the banking industry's main forum for sharing information about threats from hackers, online criminals and even nation states - the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Several people briefed on those discussions said those talks would most likely lead to the establishment of such a group by the end of the year, a recognition that hackers are increasingly focusing on big law firms to glean information about their corporate clients.