Arizonans with protective orders are among a large number of people whose personal information may have been exposed in a cyberattack on the state’s court system this week
Court IT staff discovered the attack and moved quickly to shut it down, Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer announced Friday night. In a separate email to those affected, the court system said the breach happened “within the last 36 hours.”
Officials believe criminal hackers, or automated “bots,” copied personally identifiable information belonging to many Arizonans. The Supreme Court’s Administrative Office of the Courts is now working to notify everyone it believes was affected.
Officials said there is no evidence so far that the hackers have shared the stolen information with anyone else. They also stressed the attack targeted court records broadly and was not aimed at any specific individual.
“As soon as I learned about this outrageous criminal attack on Arizona’s Courts, I immediately called our team together to formulate a response,” Timmer said in a written release. “I personally spoke with the top-ranking FBI leader in the state, and I pledged our full commitment to supporting their investigation and minimizing the likelihood that the information will be used to further jeopardize Arizonans.”
The court system began emailing people directly affected by the breach Friday night.
Among those receiving urgent notices are Arizonans with a current or past protective order, whose confidential address on file with the court may have been compromised.
The notification, sent after regular business hours, reads in part:
You’re receiving this official notice from the Arizona Court System after regular business hours because it involves informationabout your current or past protective order, including your address on file with the court. Your address is confidential.
Although the court system has significant safeguards to protect this information, no computer network is 100% secure. Withinthe last 36 hours, the state court system was the target of a cyberattack by criminal hackers or their bots. Court IT staffdiscovered the attack and took steps to stop it as quickly as possible. We believe the criminal hackers copied personallyidentifiable information about many Arizonans, including about you and your location. Based on the format of the informationcopied, it’s unclear whether most of the data copied can be easily read.
We have no evidence that the criminal hackers have shared your information with anyone. This was not targeted directly atyou, but rather at many court records.
We’ve initiated our cybersecurity action plan, and the investigation is ongoing. We’re working with the FBI to identify thecriminal hackers and to minimize the likelihood that the information will be shared.
We’ve alerted law enforcement to this problem. If you believe you are in danger, contact your local law enforcement agency.
Ashley, who asked not to share her full name or show her face, is one of those affected. She received the email late Friday night alerting her to the cyber-attack.
“Reading that the criminals may have copied my information about me and my location made me feel very vulnerable,” Ashley said. “My first thought was, my location, I guess, was my first immediate scare.”
Ashley said she has had an order of protection against her abuser for several years. She said she is now afraid her safety is at risk.
“The whole reason I had a protective order and had my information on file with the court was because I need that information protected,” Ashley said.
The FBI is part of the investigation into how and why hackers and bots gained access to and copied personally identifiable information in the last 36 hours.
“There is no better cyber investigators in the world than the FBI,” said John Iannarelli, retired FBI special agent. “Here, we probably had a bot find an open system, a system that wasn’t protected. Maybe somebody clicked on the wrong thing. In any event, that’s how the information got out. That’s what needs to be stopped and corrected.”
Iannarelli said online crime like this happens on a daily basis, but said a statewide court system being targeted is especially concerning.
“In the case of a protective order, there’s a lot of sensitive information that’s shared with the judge when a decision is made to issue such an order. Now they have the names of witnesses, victims, perhaps addresses that they don’t want the person they’re seeking protection from to know about,” Iannarelli said.
Lisa Bell, chief development officer at A New Leaf, said the nonprofit was also alerted to the breach directly by the courts. A New Leaf helps domestic violence survivors secure court protective orders.
“It’s not expected, but it is, right? You always want to make sure you’re prepared for the worst-case scenario,” Bell said.
Arizona judges grant thousands of protective orders every year, but the full extent of the data theft remains unclear.
“We know that it’s frightening and particularly for someone who has taken the steps to remain confidential. And we just want to make sure that if they are concerned that they contact us,” Bell said.
Authorities say there is currently no evidence the criminals have shared the personal information with anyone.
“Until there’s a demand or information is now revealed on the internet, it’s safe to assume that nobody has been damaged as of yet,” Iannarelli said.
Court officials urge anyone who believes they are in danger because of the breach to contact local law enforcement.
Anyone with questions is asked to check AZCourts.gov for the latest updates.
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