Kansas Court Systems Remains Down Four Weeks After Cyberattack

By Gordon HopkinsIt has now been more than four weeks since what Kansas officials are calling a “security incident” took down most of Kansas' court computer systems. Efforts are now underway to bring judicial branch information systems back online in phases, although there is not a firm timeline for when they will be fully restored. “Our phased recovery includes upgrading firewalls, rebuilding our network, and securing our technology environment,” said Chief Justice Marla Luckert. “We are following best practices for restoring and managing our information systems safely and securely, and it takes time.” In the meantime, Kansas courts remain open but are operating “old school,” with paper files and records.“Kansas courts have continued to process cases while our information systems have been offline, but it is at a slower pace due to our current dependency on paper documents,” said Chief Justice Luckert. “Having access to district court case data, even on a limited basis, will help courts better track cases. It will also help fill information needs related to real estate transactions, background checks, conflict checks, and more.” This week, the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka opened a public access service center to give the public access to district court case information. The public access case search service is for district court case information only and can't be used to search Court of Appeals or Kansas Supreme Court cases.The problem was first discovered on Thursday, October 12, 2023. The Kansas Supreme Court issued an administrative order that same day, providing that the appellate court clerk's office and all district court clerk's offices except Johnson County are inaccessible because the electronic filing systems in those courts are unavailable, as is electronic service and the case management system. The system for making payments with a credit card, electronic check, or other electronic method is also unavailable. The cause of the outage has not been officially released yet. However, Sedgwick County, Kansas, Judge Philip Journey recently told KAKE Television News that the outage was the result of a ransomware attack. That has not been confirmed by Kansas Courts. The investigation remains ongoing. One of the most crippling forms of cyberattack is called ransomware. Malware (malicious software) is a computer file or code that can infect a computer system and be used to steal, destroy, or alter data. Ransomware is malware that employs encryption to hold computer information for ransom. Once in the system, critical data, applications, and files are no longer accessible by the legitimate user. It is called ransomware because a ransom is then demanded by the perpetrators to release the infected systems. Given the proximity of Jefferson and Gage Counties to Kansas, some locals with legal business in Kansas may find themselves impacted by the outage. Upon hearing about the incident, County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock said at a recent commissioners meeting, “You know, we beat that cybersecurity drum pretty regularly.” Schoenrock added, “This is so important. You get taken down, your whole operation is totally affected.”Various court systems have also been regularly targeted. Texas courts were hit by a ransomware attack in 2020 and Wisconsin’s court system was brought down by hackers in 2021. The International Criminal Court reported a “cybersecurity incident” in September of this year.

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