Court Temporarily Shuts Down After Cyber Incident

Cyber Attack Brings Trial Court To Its Knees

(ConservativeSense.com) – A trial court in Los Angeles, California – the largest in the country – was temporarily shut down following a ransomware attack on the court’s computer system.

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County closed on Monday, June 22, after its computer systems were targeted by a ransomware attack last week. On Friday, July 19, the court discovered the cybersecurity attack had taken place and immediately disabled its network, which remained off over the weekend. Although the courts stayed open that day, county officials announced that all of its 36 courthouses would close temporarily on Monday.

In a statement from Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner, the court was hit by an “unprecedented cyber-attack,” requiring the court to shut down almost all of the computer network systems to “contain the damage” while protecting the “integrity and confidentiality” of information and ensuring the future “stability and security” of the network. After a preliminary investigation, officials found no evidence of compromised user data.

The superior court is America’s largest, serving over 10 million residents in Los Angeles County. In 2022, the court processed almost 1.2 million case filings and conducted about 2,200 jury trials across its 36 courthouses.

The July 19 statement did not indicate the closure would last beyond one day and the courthouses reopened the following day, Tuesday, July 23, at 8:30 AM — reportedly with some limitations and possible delays. The court announced that all appointments scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, were expected to proceed as planned while anyone scheduled to appear on the day of the ransomware attack or on July 22 would be notified of a continuance date. Some cases also qualified for remote appearances.

The attack does not appear to be related to the recent CrowdStrike software debacle that disrupted operations at government branches, hospitals, and airlines globally. The incident occurred the same day and caused a massive outage worldwide, interrupting essential services in multiple countries and a projected cost to Fortune 500 companies of at least $5.4 billion.

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