DOJ Investigating Cyber Breach of Federal Court Records System

Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee mark up hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on June 2, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is probing a data breach of the U.S. federal courts system dating back to 2020, a government official revealed on July 28.

During a hearing at the House Judiciary Committee, Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) told lawmakers that three “hostile foreign actors” had attacked the document filing system of U.S. courts in early 2020. The incident caused a “system security failure.” This was the first time that details of the incident were publicly disclosed. Only in March did the committee learn about the breach’s “startling breadth and scope.”

In response to Nadler’s questions about the matter, Matt Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division (NSD), admitted that the incident was a “significant concern.”

Though he did not indicate who might have been behind the attack, Olsen noted that his division mostly focuses on cyber attack risks posed by nations like North Korea, Iran, China, and Russia. The department was closely working with the federal judiciary across America to address the matter, he added.

“While I can’t speak directly to the nature of the ongoing investigation of the type of threats that you’ve mentioned regarding the effort to compromise public judicial dockets, this is of course a significant concern for us given the nature of the information that’s often held by the courts,” Olsen said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has sent a letter to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts saying that he has “serious concerns” about the federal judiciary hiding the consequences of the data breach from the public and Congress, according to Politico.

Court Vulnerability

On Jan. 6, 2021, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said that it was implementing new security procedures to safeguard sealed or confidential records. The decision was made after discovering that the court’s electronic case management and filing system was compromised.

“The federal Judiciary’s foremost concern must be the integrity of and public trust in the operation and administration of its courts,” James C. Duff, secretary of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary’s national policy-making body, said in a Jan. 6, 2021, communication to the courts.

At the July 28 hearing, David Sellers, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said that the judiciary was facing a “significant threat” with regard to its electronic case management system.

The U.S. Courts has established the Judiciary IT Security Task Force and is working with the Department of Homeland Security to address vulnerabilities and boost security.

Nadler asked Olsen whether the breach had affected any cases that the NSD is pursuing. Olsen replied that he could not “think of anything in particular.” The NSD head promised to keep Congress updated on the issue.