US Federal Courts Hacked: Suspicions Point to Russia
Okay, so here's the deal: it looks like the databases used by US federal courts for managing case documents were hacked. I'm not talking about some low-level mischief either. The New York Times is saying that Russia is suspected of being behind it, and that’s a pretty serious accusation.
Apparently, the Administrative Office of the US Courts noticed something fishy back in July, but they're still trying to figure out the full extent of the damage. The systems affected are the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF), which is used by legal professionals, and PACER, which gives the public limited access to those files. So, it's a pretty big deal.
One of the scariest things I read is that this hack may have compromised the identities of confidential informants in criminal cases. I mean, that's putting people's lives at risk. It seems like the intruders were looking at midlevel criminal cases, including some involving people with Russian and Eastern European surnames. Creepy, right?
While we don't have confirmation on who exactly is behind this, the fact that they are considering it being Russia is a bit scary. Is it a specific intelligence branch? What evidence do they even have? There are a lot of unanswered questions.
The courts have been ordered to move sensitive files off the compromised systems, and some districts are limiting the use of CM/ECF and PACER as a precaution. Better safe than sorry, I guess. It's a crazy situation! It makes you wonder what else is vulnerable out there.
Source: Engadget