- Courts in Washington state have been forced to shut down IT infrastructure
- There is no word on the attackers or the type of cyber attack
- Not all courts were affected equally
Unnamed hackers have attacked court systems in the US state of Washington, forcing the judicial system to shut down parts of its infrastructure to prevent further damage.
“In an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed our systems to secure them and are working around the clock with leading experts to restore services as quickly as possible,” Wendy Ferrell, AOC deputy director, told local media.
Washington’s court systems include multiple municipal and district courts, and it appears not all have been affected in the same way or to the same extent. For example, courts in Bainbridge Island, Monroe, Puyallup, Milton and Thurston County are operating with limited services.
Limited operation
Pierce County Superior Court Clerk’s Office is still providing online access and says the impact on its systems and operations has been limited.
“The Pierce County Clerk of the Superior Court’s Office is experiencing service disruptions due to unauthorized activity detected on the Washington Court network,” the Pierce County Clerk of the Superior Court said.
“The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has taken immediate action to secure critical systems and is actively working to safely restore service.”
In a phone call with the Seattle Times, King County Chief Judge Rebecca C. Robertson said the superior and district courts in King’s County are not significantly affected because they operate a separate case management system.
“We are prepared for at least a week,” Robertson said. “To protect the extremely sensitive data, (state officials) decided to shut everything down and rebuild.”
There’s no word on who the attackers are, or what type of attack this was, but law enforcement agencies are no strangers to ransomware attacks.
In the summer of 2024, the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the largest in the United States, suffered a ransomware attack that forced it to close its entire branch for a day.
Via Seattle Times