- Sensitive files held by American courts are targeted
- The American judiciary strengthens its computer infrastructure following incidents
- Doj, DHS and others were called to help
The American judicial system has confirmed the suffering of a cyber attack and says that it is now working on strengthening its systems to avoid other incursions.
In a press release published on the American court website, the body said it had recently known: “increased cyberattacs of a sophisticated and persistent nature”.
Without detailing attacks or authors, the announcement indicated that the crooks were targeting its case management system, targeting sensitive files hosted there.
Courts in the reticle
“The vast majority of documents filed with the management system of electronic cases of the judiciary are not confidential and are indeed easily accessible to the public, which is fundamental for an open and transparent judicial system.
However, certain deposits contain confidential information or sealed owners of public view, ”says the announcement.
“These sensitive documents can be objectives of interest in a range of threat actors. To better protect them, the courts have implemented more rigorous procedures to restrict access to sensitive documents in carefully controlled and monitored circumstances. ”
The announcement does not fall into the details of strengthening efforts. He indicates that the administrative office of American courts is working with the Congress, the Ministry of Justice (DOJ), the Ministry of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies.
The American, local and federal courts, have often been targets of different cybercriminals.
In 2020, a cyber attack against the system of American federal courts ended up being much more harmful than we initially thought, and in 2024, unnamed hackers attacked legal systems through the American state of Washington, forcing the judicial organization to close certain parts of its infrastructure to avoid other damage.
In the summer of 2024, the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the largest in the United States, underwent a ransomware attack which forced it to close its entire operation for a day.
