Russia suspected in hack of federal court system
Defense And Security,Federal Courts,Russian Hackers
Investigators suspect Russia was behind the hack of the U.S. federal court filing system, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The breach may have exposed sensitive information, such as the identities of federal informants, sealed indictments and unserved search warrants.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which oversees the online filing system that manages documents in federal civil and criminal cases, discovered the hack around July 4.
Investigators speaking on condition of anonymity told the Times that it’s unclear whether the hackers, who reportedly spent several years infiltrating the system, were connected to Russian intelligence or if other countries were involved. A source also named specific federal courts that had been targeted, including those in South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Arkansas.
The hackers are also said to have searched the system for information on criminal cases in the New York City area and several other jurisdictions. Some of those cases reportedly involved people with Russian and Eastern European surnames.
