Report: Russian Government Hackers Suspected in Breach of US Federal Court Filing System

The New York Times reports that the Russian government is allegedly involved in the data breach impacting the U.S. court filing system, PACER.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper mentioned that Russia “is at least partially responsible” for the cyberattack, but did not detail which specific branches of the Russian government are involved.

The hackers focused on “midlevel criminal cases in the New York City area and other jurisdictions, some of which included individuals with Russian and Eastern European surnames,” as highlighted in the report.

Recently, Politico covered the breach of the federal judiciary’s electronic case filing system, which may have endangered the identities of confidential informants, whose details are usually redacted and inaccessible to the public, thus exposing them to potential retaliation from criminals they assist in apprehending.

The compromised data could include sealed criminal dockets, indictments, arrest warrants, and other documents that are either currently confidential or might never become part of the public record.

On August 7, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts confirmed the occurrence of a cyberattack.

The New York Times also referenced a memo sent to Justice Department officials, clerks, and chief judges, stating that “persistent and sophisticated cyber threat actors have recently breached sealed records.” The memo highlighted that “this is an URGENT MATTER requiring immediate action.”

This might not be the first time Russia has targeted the U.S. federal court system.

In 2020, an extensive Russian cyberattack on SolarWinds software, used by significant tech firms and government organizations, allowed hackers to gain backdoor access via a compromised software update, impacting several U.S. government departments, including PACER, and facilitating the theft of sealed court documents.

In its August 7 statement, the U.S. Courts affirmed that it is “improving system security to prevent future attacks and prioritizing collaboration with courts to mitigate the effect on litigants.”