Word of the week: PHP
In legal tech last week, website stewards assessed and patched a PHP vulnerability that let hackers siphon credentials from ephemeral memory. This vulnerability was known for over a decade and was considered too difficult to exploit. Too difficult, until generative AI was applied. EDRM.net was no exception. We remediated on day one thanks to our enterprise-grade host, WP Engine. We are addressing our credentials and our API usage. We are reluctantly reducing our attack surface by suspending our edge coverage in “Updates from Around the Globe,” where we shared links to posts and articles of interest to our community from far and wide. We are rethinking how to bring that perspective without its palpable risks. One note from our own week. We received our host’s security notice by email on the evening of October 21. It was genuine, and we are glad they sent it proactively. It also had all the hallmarks of the fake-patch messages now circulating: an unexpected email about an urgent PHP patch, a no-reply sender, and links wrapped in redirects, so the destination wasn’t visible. We did not click them. We opened our host’s portal by typing the address ourselves, verified the communication there, and then confirmed the PHP version from our own dashboard. We recommend that cautious approach even when messages turn out to be real, because today’s fake ones look the same.
EDRM is interested in how our community is responding not only to this PHP exploit, but also to prompt injection, social engineering, and the new security challenges we face as we steward our clients’ confidential work product and evidence. Reach out to me directly: mary@edrm.net.
Mary Mack, CEO and Chief Legal Technologist, EDRM.
EDRM is interested in publishing thought leadership articles and posts to move our community forward. Contact us at info@edrm.net for guidelines or to suggest a topic for one of our authors.
On the EDRM Blog
- Improper Reliance on A.I. + Failure to Use Litigation Support Experts + Lack of Transparency = Failure to Comply With “Meet & Confer” Order
- From Customs Issue to Federal Case: What Trade Fraud Investigations Now Demand
- Insurer’s Denial of Coverage for Litigation Costs During Doc Review Justifies Late Assertion of Privilege
- Schrödinger’s Cat Goes to Court, Part Two: The Cat, the Gavel, and the New Age of Quantum Law
- Genesis Momentum Powers Cellebrite’s Autumn Release: More Evidence, Deeper Insight, Broader Access for Investigations
- “Contention Interrogatories” Asking for “All” Facts Were Too Broad
- GenAI vs. CAL: The Experts Are Arguing the Wrong Question
- The Standard for a Preservation Order
- Schrödinger’s Cat Goes to Court, Part One: The Cat, the Dice, and the Quantum Machine
- When a Redacted Document Was Used to Prepare a Witness, Only the Redacted Document Needs to Be Produced in Discovery
Upcoming Webinars on the EDRM Global Webinar Channel
- 28 October | 1 PM ET – The DSAR Horror Story: When Privacy Requests Become eDiscovery Matters
- 3 November | 1 PM ET – Beyond Search: From Keywords to AI-Integrated eDiscovery
- 10 November | 1 PM ET – The Judicious Judge’s Guide to Generative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models – Session 2
Can’t make it to a live session? Past EDRM webinars are available to watch anytime on the EDRM Global Webinar Channel. Missed a recent one? Catch up on our most recent on-demand webinars:
- Comprehensive eDiscovery Case Management
- The Judicious Judge’s Guide to Generative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models – Session 1
- [HaystackID® Webcast] Trade Fraud Investigation Best Practices
Updates from Around the Globe
From Our Trusted Partners
- Genesis Momentum Powers Cellebrite’s Autumn Release: Cellebrite’s Autumn 2026 Release highlights AI-driven analysis through Genesis, expanded mobile device support, and AI-powered call-detail-record analysis through Pathfinder; next-generation drone-forensics support planned for early 2027.
- What Does “Human in the Loop” Really Mean?: Tim Rollins of Exterro argues that human approval often becomes a rubber stamp in high-volume eDiscovery and that defensible agentic AI workflows must document what reviewers actually saw and how they responded.
- From Customs Issue to Federal Case: What Trade Fraud Investigations Now Demand: HaystackID says counsel, forensic accountants, and eDiscovery teams must coordinate preservation and data mapping from the first trade-fraud red flag.
- Magnet Forensics has launched the Magnet AI Research Lab, a dedicated program for applied AI research in digital forensics.
- How to choose an ediscovery vendor: 9 tips and questions to ask in 2026: Nextpoint’s Amanda Fong offers nine questions for vetting providers on cost, data protection, support, and AI practices before signing.
- Unreasonably Great: What a Two-Dollar Hot Dog Can Teach a Litigator About eDiscovery: Ray Biederman, co-founder of Proteus Discovery Group, treats technical delivery as the minimum for eDiscovery vendors and lays out ten client-care principles drawn from Will Guidara’s hospitality ideas.
- Skilled Skepticism: How Pro Bono Teams Put AI to Work: Drawing on a Relativity Fest panel, Sam Bock explains how pro bono teams build attorney confidence in AI while keeping lawyers accountable for verifying results.
Catch our latest syndicated EDRM Global Podcast Network episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
Illumination Zone Podcasts
Recent guests include:
- Episode 244 | Khrhysna “Khrys” McKinney, Founder, K. L. McKinney
- Episode 243 | Robb Caruso, Vice President of Legal and Cyber Solutions, HaystackID
- Episode 242 | Esther Birnbaum, Executive Vice President of Data Intelligence, HaystackID
EDRM Announcements
- Survey Request: Cybersecurity, information governance and legal discovery professionals are invited to complete ComplexDiscovery OÜ’s Summer 2026 eDiscovery Pricing Survey. Now in its sixteenth edition and conducted in partnership with EDRM, the anonymized survey takes approximately five minutes and is open through November 20, 2026.
- Save the Date: Join us on December 3, 2026, for the 12th annual eDiscovery Day! Founded by Trusted Partner Exterro and co-sponsored by EDRM, eDiscovery Today, ACEDS, and LegalOps.com, this year’s event will feature educational programming, including a keynote exploring AI’s evolving role in eDiscovery, featuring new industry research, a live oral argument on AI, and recognition of the inaugural Rising Stars of eDiscovery. Learn more here.
Weekly Community Support Call: Join us every Tuesday at 6PM Eastern on Zoom for support and camaraderie. Email info@edrm.net for an invitation to our 349th call. For mental health care, consider these professional resources.
All are welcome,
Mary and Holley
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P.S. This update was assisted by GAI and LLM Technologies as per EDRM’s GAI and LLM Policy
