Texas courts won’t pay ransom over malware attack that led to disabled servers, websites
Websites and computer servers for Texas’ appellate courts and judicial agencies have been shut down since last week in response to a ransomware attack.
The attack began overnight and was first discovered early Friday by the Office of Court Administration’s information technology staff, according to a Monday news release. Staff disabled the branch network, including websites and servers, to prevent further damage. There is no indication that sensitive or personal information was compromised, and the attack is not related to the shift to remote hearings amid the novel coronavirus’ outbreak, according to the news release.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that is designed to prevent users from accessing their data by locking and encrypting it, and demands payment in order for a user to regain access.
The Office of Court Administration “was able to catch the ransomware and limit its impact and will not pay any ransom,” the agency said. The network will remain disabled until the breach is remediated.
The Texas Department of Information Resources and law enforcement are working with the agency to investigate the breach, and a temporary website at txcourts.gov has been created for the public to continue to access emergency orders, virtual hearings and more.
The Texas Supreme Court’s website was down last Friday, and as a result the court’s opinions were posted online through the file-sharing site Dropbox. A limited version of the site was online Monday morning.
Some services are still available, including filing and reviewing documents, as a majority of the Texas Judicial Branch’s IT functions have been moved to the cloud in recent years, according to the news release.
In January, the Texas Department of Agriculture’s website was defaced, and last August nearly two dozen Texas communities were hit by ransomware attacks.
