Security for lawyers in the 21st Century
The General Council of Spanish Lawyers (CGAE) has chosen StoneGate to protect its service architecture
Since 2003, the General Council of Spanish Lawyers (CGAE) has been developing a groundbreaking technological project called ‘Legal Profession IT’ which is updating and optimising the legal profession to make the justice system more accessible for Spanish citizens.
The main objective of the project is to promote an online approach for
the legal profession, and thus save lawyers from costly and time-consuming paperwork,
bureaucracy and other procedures which have proven difficult to avoid using more
traditional methods. The project also aims to gradually introduce the so-called ‘
Qualified Electronic Signature’ coupled with lawyers’ status, while developing information
systems that improve themanagement of legal organisations.
In the legal sector, authentication for clients, Public Administrations and colleagues is essential, while the confidentiality of client data is of the utmost importance. For these reasons, law professionals demand technology that allows them to exchange information with the maximum possible security and efficiency.
To address these important areas of security, the project has been assigned funding to implement all the necessary security tools (qualified digital certificates and cryptographic cards) and online services to improve professionals’ productivity and save unnecessary journeys.
As the Certification Authority for the legal profession, the CGAE has provided lawyers in Spain with new affiliate identity cards including the ACA’s (Lawyer’s Certification Authority) digital certificate. This new cryptographic ID card recognises a lawyer’s ‘ Internet status’ with full legal powers, and allows the user to access the online services available to lawyers at www.RedAbogacia.org, bringing further savings in time, costs and procedural work.
Project Infrastructure
The budget assigned to the technological project totalled 8.3 million euros, to be spread over four years. It was financed to a large extent thanks to the collaboration of the PROFIT technological innovation programme and the FORINTEL programme of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce. The CGAE designed a platform based on HP servers from the Proliant and Integrity series, SCSI and FC data storage libraries from the same provider, and made-to-measure software developed by Panel Sistemas Informáticos and Satec.Eduardo Infantes, operations manager at the CGAE said: “All the applications are developed on Java so that they are accessible to users through their browsers, irrespective of whether they’re using public or private networks. For this reason, the critical technologies are those relating to security and user identification.”
Following a pilot project, the CGAE chose StoneGate due to the high levels of satisfaction it provided.
The organisation chose Stonesoft’s clustered StoneGate firewall solutions to protect the system’s architecture, both in the manufacturer’s appliance version and in software mode on HP machines. These platforms also include VPN and IPS applications, and provide network security functions, point-to-point availability and load balancing within a unified system which is centrally managed.
Some of the more valuable advantages of StoneGate include: its high level of confidentiality with the chance to establish connections quickly and easily as the need arises and secure communications at all times; the cost reductions it brings due to minimisation of maintenance tasks and centralised control of the whole network; and finally, the system’s optimal availability, delivering permanent connectivity and the possibility to archive and access cases digitally.
"Stonesoft has been the provider of our security solutions, that is to say firewalls, right from the beginning of this project. The company was selected
because of its references in the market."Eduardo Infantes, Operations Manager, CGAE
Online services
In addition to the internal management benefits for the General Council itself and the Professional Lawyer Associations, there are currently eight online services that have been developed by the CGAE and are available through digital certificates at the portal www.RedAbogacia.org. The success of these online legal services is borne out by the portal’s impressive use statistics during the past year: more than 63,000 electronic transactions carried out by professional members, 265,000 visits (average duration of 9 minutes) and a total of 11 million web pages downloaded.
Some of the services offered by Redabogacia include the possibility of requesting prison visit permits through the use of electronic signatures. This simplifies the traditional procedure which involves the lawyer’s professional association and the prison itself. In just three years, this procedure has enabled the concession of 15,000 permits, which proves this practice has been well received within the sector.
Other services include Bureaumail, which alllows users to send secure e-mails with certification of dispatch and receipt by the recipient; the Virtual Post Office which allows users to send telegrams, registered faxes and letters through the online services of Correos (the Spanish postal company); and the Professional Intervention Communications system (CIP in Spanish) which allows lawyers to electronically process the qualifications they need to work in other jurisdictions from that of their professional association.
Further new features offered by the CGAE include online training in the use of new technologies, through digital certificates that are available at the virtual campus of www.Redabogacia.org In addition to these online services for professional purposes, the CGAE is also implementing a project called SIGA for computerising the different business processes of the professional associations, from membership management, through new additions, to invoicing.
Another recent initiative has been the creation of the web portal www.JusticiaGratuita.es, which aims to simplify the process from the moment a citizen requests the services of a courtappointed lawyer through to the time he/she is assigned one, as well as electronically interconnecting the institution of the legal profession with all of the Public Administration bodies involved. This new project means that, for the first time ever, the Technological Project of the Legal Profession is also orientated towards citizens.
Pioneering project
To date, 150,000 solicitors have been able to carry out their legal duties online using a digital certificate. The success of the technological project for the legal profession has exceeded all expectations to date, and has promoted a series of meetings with international legal authorities, such as the CCBE (Council of Bars and Law societies of Europe), in order to propose a certification model to be used in issuing European lawyer ID cards, as well as encounters with the Law Society of Scotland and the International Bar Association.Stonesoft’s products are considered to be among the best solutions available today for a project such as ours."
Eduardo Infantes, Operations Manager, CGAE
About CGAE
The General Council of Spanish Lawyers is the superior representative, coordinative and executive body of Professional Lawyers Associations in Spain. Created in 1942, the council’s main purpose is to represent the Spanish legal profession and to act as the spokesperson for all lawyers associations in all ambits, including other similar organisations in different countries. The council also manages the professional practice of lawyers, authorises the creation of Legal Practice Schools linked to Professional Lawyers Associations, monitors the prestige of the profession, and demands that Associations and their members fulfil their duties.
StoneGate Platform
The General Council of Spanish Lawyers is the superior representative, coordinative and executive body of Professional Lawyers Associations in Spain. Created in 1942, the council’s main purpose is to represent the Spanish legal profession and to act as the spokesperson for all lawyers associations in all ambits, including other similar organisations in different countries. The council also manages the professional practice of lawyers, authorises the creation of Legal Practice Schools linked to Professional Lawyers Associations, monitors the prestige of the profession, and demands that Associations and their members fulfil their duties.
StoneGate security and business continuity platform integrates Stonesoft’s firewall, VPN and IPS technologies with key components to ensure the highest network and Internet availability. This solution has been designed to protect business resources through different security levels, and detect and react to threats by ensuring at the same time a continuous availability thanks to StoneGate’s native clustering features. Moreover, Stonesoft’s patented Multi-Link technology allows for load balancing and high availability also in connections from and to Internet, and between VPNs. By offering a global distributed management through a single centralized management server, StoneGate allows organizations to reduce costs and simplify their security and network infrastructure management.
About Stonesoft
Stonesoft Corporation is an innovative provider of integrated network security and business continuity. Stonesoft is a global company focused on enterprise level customers requiring advanced network security and always-on business connectivity with low TCO, best price-to-performance ratio, and highest ROI. Stone- Gate™ Security Platform unifies firewall, VPN and IPS, blending network security, end-to-end availability and award-winning load balancing into a unified and centrally managed system for distributed enterprises. Founded in 1990, Stonesoft Corporation has corporate headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and Americas headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.