The US federal judiciary agency has fallen victim to what it is calling 'escalated cyber attacks' targeting its electronic case filing system.
The attack involved the breach of data from Case Management/Electronic Case Files, used by legal professionals to upload and manage case documents, and PACER, which gives the public limited access to the same data.
Information exposed includes sealed indictments detailing information about alleged crimes that is not available to the general public, along with arrests and search warrants.
"The vast majority of documents filed with the Judiciary’s electronic case management system are not confidential and indeed are readily available to the public, which is fundamental to an open and transparent judicial system," said the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
"However, some filings contain confidential or proprietary information that are sealed from public view. These sensitive documents can be targets of interest to a range of threat actors.
The judiciary said it is working with Congress, as well as the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and others, to mitigate the risks and impacts of these cyber attacks.
Who’s behind the federal judiciary attacks?
It's not yet clear how the hackers gained access, nor who was responsible for the attack, although it's suspected to be nation state-affiliated actors.
Nick Tausek, lead security automation architect at Swimlane, described the incident as a “serious breach with far-reaching implications” due to the nature of the data exposed.
"What’s especially concerning is how little is still known about the attack, including the method of entry, the actors behind it, and the full scope of the breach,” Tausek said.
“While investigations are still underway, the limited visibility may point to the involvement of a highly sophisticated threat actor, gaps in cybersecurity measures, or a combination of both."
The breach is just the latest in a series of attacks, which have led to calls for improvements in security.
In June, Court of Appeals judge Michael Scudder testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee, pledging to modernize the agency's IT systems and introduce more rigorous procedures to restrict access to sensitive documents.
He said that replacing Case Management/Electronic Case Files and PACER was a top priority, but that this would take time.
"It’s reassuring to see the chair of the Committee on Information Technology for federal courts call for modernization of the department’s cybersecurity defenses. The sooner these measures are implemented, the better," said Tausek.
"Additionally, proactive security measures should be incorporated into the federal courts systems’ defenses in order to mitigate future attacks that will inevitably be inspired by the success of this one.”
Campaign group Fix The Court said that the Federal Judiciary needs to speed up its modernization work if it's to avoid similar attacks in the future.
"You know what would fix this? The Open Courts Act, a bill that would beef up cybersecurity by using modern technology to maintain the court records system, replacing the awkward, patchwork architecture exists today," it said. "Without it, this is going to happen again."
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