Cyber Attack Targets State Court’s Website

Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating a cyber attack that is impacting the state court system website.  There has been some progress made in restoring services.  Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Debra Todd says that of 5:20 on Monday afternoon, portions of the website including PACFile, GTS, web dockets and court summaries, and PAePay were restored, but the court information technology and executive team continues to work closely with the FBI and Homeland Security to analyze and investigate the cyber attack. Todd says work also continues to further assess and address website services which are not yet accessible.  Todd said there is still no indication that any court data has been compromised, they appreciate the patience and cooperation of the public, media and legal professionals as they work to bring the entire website back online, and they reiterate that, amid this event, the courts have remained open and accessible.”  According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a denial of service cyber attack occurs when malicious actors flood the targeted host or network with traffic until the target cannot respond or simply crashes, preventing access for legitimate users.  The agency also didn’t say whether its cyber-security measures worked as designed or whether the attackers demanded money or a ransom. Courts remain open and are accessible to the public.