According to the New York Times, the Russian government is said to be behind a data breaches affecting the US court application system known as Pacer.
Citing an anonymous source, the newspaper said Russia is “at least partially responsible” for the cyberattacks, which part of the Russian government is behind the hack.
Hackers searched interim criminal cases in the New York City area and several other jurisdictions, whereas according to the article, may involve people with Russian and Eastern European surnames.
Last week, Politico reported that hackers could break into the federal judicial electronic litigation filing system and access the identity of confidential informants.
Politico reported that the stolen data could not be included in sealed criminal dockets and charges, arrest warrants and other documents that have not yet been published, or in fact, public dockets.
The administrative office of the U.S. Courts, the agency that oversees the US federal court system, confirmed the cyberattack in a statement on August 7th.
The New York Times also cited memos sent from the court system administrators to Justice Department officials, clerks and the Supreme Court justice. This said “permanent and sophisticated cyberthreat actors have compromised on recently sealed records.” “This remains an urgent issue that requires immediate action,” the email said.
This may not be Russia’s first rodeo targeting the US federal court system.
In 2020, a long-term Russian cyberattack targeted SolarWinds software used by large tech companies and government agencies, providing contaminated software updates that allowed Russian government hackers to access backwork to SolarWinds’ client networks.
The widespread hacks affected several U.S. government departments, including Pacer, allowing theft of sealed court documents.
A U.S. court said in a statement on August 7th that “we prioritize working with the courts to reduce the impact on litigators in order to enhance the security of our systems and block future attacks.”
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