Evidence suggests that Russia is partly responsible for a recent hack of the federal court records system, which may have exposed sensitive information about criminal cases and confidential informants, according to a report.
The hack, which Politico first reported last week, is believed to have compromised information about confidential sources in criminal cases across numerous federal districts. The attack is believed to have occurred in early July.
It’s not immediately clear which Russian entity was involved, several people familiar with the matter told the New York Times.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which manages the electronic court records system, declined to comment on the reported revelations. The Independent has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Some criminal case searches involved people with Russian and Eastern European surnames, the outlet reported.
Court system administrators informed Justice Department officials, clerks and chief judges in federal courts that “persistent and sophisticated cyber threat actors have recently compromised sealed records,” according to an internal department memo seen by the NYT.
Some records related to criminal activity with international ties were also believed to have been targeted. Chief judges were also warned last month to move cases fitting this description off the regular document-management system, the outlet reported.
Margo K. Brodie, chief judge of the Eastern District of New York, ordered “documents filed under seal in criminal cases and in cases related to criminal investigations are prohibited from being filed” in PACER, a public database for court records.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts issued a statement last week saying that it is taking steps to further protect sensitive court filings, noting that most court documents filed in the system are not confidential.
“The federal Judiciary is taking additional steps to strengthen protections for sensitive case documents in response to recent escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature on its case management system. The Judiciary is also further enhancing security of the system and to block future attacks, and it is prioritizing working with courts to mitigate the impact on litigants,” August 7 statement read.
Although the statement didn’t address the origin of the cyber attack or which files were compromised, the NYT reported that federal courts in New York, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Arkansas were included in the breach.
In January 2021, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts acknowledged “widespread cybersecurity breaches.” At the time, the office said highly sensitive documents could be filed in paper form or using a secure electronic device, such as a thumb drive, and stored in a secure stand-alone computer system rather than filed on the electronic case files system.
“This remains an URGENT MATTER that requires immediate action,” the memo obtained by the NYT said, alluding to the 2021 breach.
Federal officials told the outlet that Russia also had a hand in that cyber attack.
As of last spring, some protective measures had already been implemented, the NYT reported. For example, if judges were traveling abroad, they were prohibited from accessing the internal court filings systems and occasionally were even given burner phones to communicate with their staff.
In May, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced it started implementing multi-factor authentication to improve security on the electronic records systems, stating it helps “protect against cyberattacks that steal passwords, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access.”
The report of Russia’s alleged involvement comes days before President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
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