Priya Patel**TLDR:** Portions of the Pennsylvania Courts’ website have been down since Sunday due to a cyber attack. The attack, which is being investigated by the FBI and other agencies, has affected online services such as filing systems, docket sheets, electronic payment methods, and a guardianship tracking system. Chief Justice Debra Todd stated that the attack was a denial of service cyber attack, in which an internet host or network is flooded with traffic until it cannot respond. The court’s IT team is working with law enforcement to investigate the incident, and there is no indication that any court data was compromised. Cyber attacks on government entities have occurred in the area in recent months.
The Pennsylvania Courts’ website has faced disruptions since Sunday as a result of a cyber attack. Chief Justice Debra Todd released a statement saying that portions of the website, including filing systems, docket sheets, electronic payment methods, and a guardianship tracking system, have been affected due to a denial of service cyber attack. This type of attack floods an internet host or network with traffic until it is unable to respond.
Todd assured the public that the court’s IT team is working closely with law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to investigate the incident. She also mentioned that there is no indication that any court data was compromised during the attack.
Courts in Pennsylvania remain open to the public despite the disruption in online services. Attempts to access the Pennsylvania Courts’ website on Sunday and Monday resulted in error messages and connection timeouts. The website later displayed a message stating that it was undergoing maintenance.
This cyber attack is not the only one to affect government entities in the area. In late January, Washington County government experienced a cyber attack that shut down most forms of county government involving a computer. The attack is still under investigation. In November, Pennsylvania lawmakers requested federal officials to investigate a cyber attack on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, which was allegedly led by an Iranian-backed hacker group.
These incidents highlight the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect against cyber attacks.
