Ransomware attack shuts down Los Angeles court systems

The Superior Court of Los Angeles County said it experienced a significant data security incident that forced officials to close all 36 courthouse locations. 

In a recent press release, court officials said that on July 19, the Superior Court detected a ransomware attack that severely affected several court systems. To prevent the ransomware from spreading, court officials decided to close all 36 courthouse locations throughout Los Angeles County.

In a statement shared with the media, Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner said, “The Court experienced an unprecedented cyber-attack on Friday which has resulted in the need to shut down nearly all network systems in order to contain the damage, protect the integrity and confidentiality of information and ensure future network stability and security. 

“While the Court continues to move swiftly towards a restoration and recovery phase, many critical systems remain offline as of Sunday evening. One additional day will enable the Court’s team of experts to focus exclusively on bringing our systems back online so that the Court can resume operations as expeditiously, smoothly and safely as possible,” she added.

Court staff are working with external cyber security experts to recover the affected systems and get the court systems back online as early as possible. It also decided to close all courthouses on Monday to maximise the recovery process. 

The Court added that it has so far found no evidence of any data being compromised from the affected systems. It is also working with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CALOES) and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident and determine the scope of the same.