Kansas Supreme Court Data Hacked

The Record reports that recovery from an October ransomware attack on the Supreme Court of Kansas will require more time than previously assumed. There are threats from hackers to leak the stolen data to the dark web if their demands are not met.

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert confirmed that the cyberattack, described as “foreign,” has impacted the information systems of the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration, severely limiting the operations of the state’s appellate and district courts.

“When we discovered the attack, we quickly disconnected our information systems from external access. We notified state authorities, and since that time have benefitted from the continued support provided by the governor’s office, legislative leadership, and state and federal law enforcement. This attack — on one of our three branches of government — was made against all Kansans,” said a statement issued by Luckert and her fellow Justices.

Normal operations, including electronic filing, are expected to take several weeks to be fully restored. The justices noted that their IT team is actively working on enhancing security systems to safeguard against future attacks.

The justices confirmed that while the impact on information systems is temporary, the cybercriminals have stolen data, including Office of Judicial Administration files and confidential district court case records.

The attack hit several systems, including the protection orders portal, the public access portal for district court, the appellate case system, the state registry for attorneys, and the online marriage license application system. Those systems remain down as of November 22.

No ransomware gang has claimed responsibility. The Kansas Supreme Court’s statement highlighted FBI statistics showing an increasing trend of cybercriminals targeting local governments.