Latest news with #AdministrativeOfficeoftheUSCourts
The Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Russian hackers lurked in US courts for years, took sealed files
Russian government hackers lurked in the records system of the US courts for years and stole sensitive documents that judges had ordered sealed from public view, according to two people familiar with the matter and a report seen by Bloomberg News. The attackers had access to what was supposed to be protected information for multiple years, the report on the breach shows. They gained access by exploiting stolen user credentials and a cybersecurity vulnerability in an outdated server used by the federal judiciary, according to the report, which says the hackers specifically searched for sealed records. The report, which was reviewed in part by Bloomberg, doesn't identify the attackers. But investigators found evidence that they were a Russian state-sponsored hacking group, according to the people, who spoke on condition that they not be named because they were not authorised to discuss the matter. It's unclear exactly when the hackers first penetrated the system and when the courts became aware of the breach. Last fall, the judiciary hired a cybersecurity firm to help address it, said one of the people. The attackers' years of access to sealed court records, which hasn't been previously reported, is likely to prompt concerns about how many sensitive cases and investigations may have been compromised. It also raises questions about when the judiciary became aware of the breach and how it responded. Peter Kaplan, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the US Courts, declined to comment. The judiciary said in a statement last week that it 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 Russian Embassy in Washington didn't respond to an email seeking comment. A Department of Justice spokesperson, Shannon Shevlin, said the agency isn't able to discuss ongoing investigations. The breach is coming to public light as US President Donald Trump is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Asked whether he would raise the hack with Putin this week, Trump said he had heard about the breach and could do so. "That's what they do. They're good at it. We're good at it. We're actually better at it,' the president said. The intrusion was previously reported by Politico, while the New York Times earlier reported that Russia was at least in part behind the cyberattack. The hackers targeted sealed documents in espionage and other sensitive cases, including ones involving fraud, money laundering and agents of foreign governments, Bloomberg Law reported on Tuesday. Such records often include sensitive information that, in the wrong hands, could be used to compromise criminal and national security investigations, or to identify people who provide information to law enforcement. "These court records are some of the most valuable documents our government holds, especially for those individuals named in them,' said Jake Braun, who was principal deputy national cyber director at the White House under President Joe Biden. "Unfortunately, the Judiciary is not funded by Congress adequately to protect the data it holds, and we need to address that immediately.' The court system spent years after a major breach, found in 2020, analysing its vulnerabilities and developing policy and technology infrastructure fixes, according to a 2023 statement. The US government blamed that intrusion, part of a massive cyberattack that utilised malicious code implanted in software by Texas-based SolarWinds Corp, on Russian hackers. It's unclear if the more recent compromise of the court system is related. Last fall, the courts hired Palo Alto Networks Inc.'s Unit 42 to help it address the recent breach, and the firm completed its work before the end of 2024, according to one of the people. A spokesperson for the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company, Caren Auchman, declined to comment. In May, the courts said they had begun implementing multifactor authentication, which is widely seen as a basic cybersecurity measure, for its records system. In June, Michael Scudder, a federal judge who leads the courts' Committee on Information Technology, told the House Judiciary Committee that under investment had until recently left the judiciary's systems "outdated and vulnerable.' Scudder, reached by phone, referred questions to the court spokesperson. In July, congressional staff, including for the Senate and House judiciary committees, received a briefing on the breach, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said lawmakers have requested a classified follow-up briefing in September. More than a dozen federal courts across the country have updated their procedures for attorneys filing highly sensitive material since June, with some ordering that all sealed records be submitted as hard copies, Bloomberg Law reported. In the Eastern District of New York, for instance, the chief judge last Friday barred sealed documents related to criminal cases from being uploaded to the electronic records filing system. – Bloomberg
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
Russian hackers lurked in US courts for years, stole sealed files
By Jake Bleiberg and Jamie Tarabay Russian government hackers lurked in the records system of the US courts for years and stole sensitive documents that judges had ordered sealed from public view, according to two people familiar with the matter and a report seen by Bloomberg News. The attackers had access to what was supposed to be protected information for multiple years, the report on the breach shows. They gained access by exploiting stolen user credentials and a cybersecurity vulnerability in an outdated server used by the federal judiciary, according to the report, which says the hackers specifically searched for sealed records. The report, which was reviewed in part by Bloomberg, doesn't identify the attackers. But investigators found evidence that they were a Russian state-sponsored hacking group, according to the people, who spoke on condition that they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. It's unclear exactly when the hackers first penetrated the system and when the courts became aware of the breach. Last fall, the judiciary hired a cybersecurity firm to help address it, said one of the people. The attackers' years of access to sealed court records, which hasn't been previously reported, is likely to prompt concerns about how many sensitive cases and investigations may have been compromised. It also raises questions about when the judiciary became aware of the breach and how it responded. Peter Kaplan, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the US Courts, declined to comment. The judiciary said in a statement last week that it 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 Russian Embassy in Washington didn't respond to an email seeking comment. A Department of Justice spokesperson, Shannon Shevlin, said the agency isn't able to discuss ongoing investigations. The breach is coming to public light as US President Donald Trump is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Asked whether he would raise the hack with Putin this week, Trump said he had heard about the breach and could do so. 'That's what they do. They're good at it. We're good at it. We're actually better at it,' the president said. The hackers targeted sealed documents in espionage and other sensitive cases, including ones involving fraud, money laundering and agents of foreign governments, Bloomberg Law reported on Tuesday. Such records often include sensitive information that, in the wrong hands, could be used to compromise criminal and national security investigations, or to identify people who provide information to law enforcement. 'These court records are some of the most valuable documents our government holds, especially for those individuals named in them,' said Jake Braun, who was principal deputy national cyber director at the White House under President Joe Biden. 'Unfortunately, the Judiciary is not funded by Congress adequately to protect the data it holds, and we need to address that immediately.' The court system spent years after a major breach, found in 2020, analyzing its vulnerabilities and developing policy and technology infrastructure fixes, according to a 2023 statement. The US government blamed that intrusion, part of a massive cyberattack that utilized malicious code implanted in software by Texas-based SolarWinds Corp., on Russian hackers. It's unclear if the more recent compromise of the court system is related. Last fall, the courts hired Palo Alto Networks Inc.'s Unit 42 to help it address the recent breach, and the firm completed its work before the end of 2024, according to one of the people. A spokesperson for the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company, Caren Auchman, declined to comment. In May, the courts said they had begun implementing multifactor authentication, which is widely seen as a basic cybersecurity measure, for its records system. In June, Michael Scudder, a federal judge who leads the courts' Committee on Information Technology, told the House Judiciary Committee that underinvestment had until recently left the judiciary's systems 'outdated and vulnerable.' Scudder, reached by phone, referred questions to the court spokesperson. In July, congressional staff, including for the Senate and House judiciary committees, received a briefing on the breach, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said lawmakers have requested a classified follow-up briefing in September. More than a dozen federal courts across the country have updated their procedures for attorneys filing highly sensitive material since June, with some ordering that all sealed records be submitted as hard copies, Bloomberg Law reported. In the Eastern District of New York, for instance, the chief judge last Friday barred sealed documents related to criminal cases from being uploaded to the electronic records filing system.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Trump Says He "Could" Talk To Putin About Russia Hacking US Court System
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged reports that Russian actors may have breached the federal court's electronic filing system, saying he "could" bring up the issue with their leader, Vladimir Putin, during their upcoming meeting in Alaska. "I guess I could, are you surprised?" Trump said during a press event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, when asked if he would raise the matter with Putin. "They hack in, that's what they do. They're good at it, we're good at it, we're actually better at it." #WATCH | On reports of Russia suspected to be behind hack of US federal court filing system and if would bring it up when he meets President Putin later this week, US President Donald Trump says, "I guess I hack in, that's what they do. They are good at it. We are… — ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2025 Trump and the Russian President are scheduled to meet on August 15 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, in what the White House describes as a "listening exercise" to gauge Moscow's willingness to end the war in Ukraine. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that hackers linked to Russia "compromised" sealed court records, including sensitive documents related to national security cases. Some targeted files involved mid-level criminal cases in New York City and other jurisdictions, with several concerning individuals of Russian and Eastern European origin. The hack is believed to be part of a years-long campaign, the paper said. The breach affected the judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system, which stores both public and sealed documents, as well as the PACER system used for public access. Officials fear the intrusion could expose witnesses in criminal trials, including those involving Latin American drug cartels. According to Politico, investigators believe the attackers exploited long-standing vulnerabilities first identified in 2020. The Administrative Office of the US Courts confirmed it is taking "additional steps to strengthen protections for sensitive case documents" and working with affected courts to mitigate the damage. An internal memo obtained by the NYT warned that "persistent and sophisticated cyber threat actors have recently compromised sealed records" and called the matter "urgent." This was Trump's first public acknowledgement of the hack. In the past, he has been reluctant to publicly confront Russia over cyber operations. In 2018, he cast doubt on US intelligence findings that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Federal courts go old school to paper filings after hack to key system
Digital securityFacebookTweetLink Follow Federal district courts are beginning to implement new approaches to guard confidential information in cases following a breach of the electronic databases used in the judiciary. The policy changes move an already vulnerable and antiquated record-keeping system to paper-only filings in some instances after a major cyber security breach of federal court records this summer that may have been perpetrated by a foreign government. Federal courts that have announced changes to how attorneys make sealed filings include are in Washington state, Florida, New York, Maryland and Virginia, representing only a small portion of the business of the federal judiciary across the country. Stanley Bastian, the chief judge of the Eastern District of Washington federal court, which includes the cities of Spokane and Yakima, ordered that as of this week, all documents being filed in that court under seal or for a judge's review only were to be filed only on paper, as 'the best way to secure sensitive case documents while ensuring continued access to all public court records.' In the Southern District of Florida, including Miami and West Palm Beach, Chief Judge Cecilia Altonaga ordered that attorneys send in confidential filings in an even more specific way: by delivering pages to the clerk's office in a plain envelope marked 'SEALED DOCUMENT.' Chief Judge Mark Davis of the Eastern District of Virginia, which presides over Northern Virginia, the Tidewater area and Richmond, also directed his courthouse to only accept sensitive filings on paper. 'In response to recent cyberattacks directed at public and private sector computer systems, including attacks directed at the judiciary, information technology specialists have advised this Court of the need to take additional steps to better secure our case management system,' Davis wrote in an order late last month. 'Public users enjoy direct access to this Court's electronic filing system through PACER and CM/ECF, and while this access creates cybersecurity vulnerabilities, there is a vital need to preserve the integrity of this critical public resource.' In Maryland, attorneys can submit sealed filings on paper in person or via US mail, Chief Judge George Russell III said in an order this week. The chief judge in Brooklyn's federal court also changed filing procedures for the Eastern District of New York, setting up a submission process online outside of the case management/electronic filing system (also known as CM/ECF) that the court uses. While sealed filings can be submitted by attorneys electronically to a court, generally aren't able to be viewed by the public in the federal court records database online, called Pacer. They are often used in criminal cases to protect sensitive information about defendants, victims or others under investigation. The Administrative Office of the US Courts, which is the central administrator for the judicial branch of government, said last week it was working to further enhance security to prevent future attacks and protect sensitive documents. But it is up to each court to set their own policies for intaking filings. Officials working in the courts have long warned the systems could be vulnerable to cyber attacks. The New York Times reported that investigators have found evidence the Kremlin was 'at least partly responsible' in the recent breach of the federal case management system. CNN has not independently confirmed this report. However, President Donald Trump on Wednesday reacted to the alleged Russian involvement, saying, 'Are you surprised?' 'That's what they do. They're good at it. We're good at it. We're actually better at it,' the president told reporters at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Asked whether he would raise the incident with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he meets with him in Alaska on Friday, Trump said: 'I guess I could.' CNN's John Fritze contributed to this report.
