Kansas Supreme Court says foreign cyberattack affecting systems

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court has confirmed the “security incident” affecting court systems is the result of a sophisticated foreign cyberattack.

The cyberattack happened Oct. 12, and Kansas’ online court systems have been down ever since.

“This attack has temporarily incapacitated Kansas Office of Judicial Administration information systems, affecting daily operations of the state’s appellate courts and district courts in 104 counties,” the Kansas Supreme Court said Tuesday in a statement.

The Kansas Supreme Court said the criminals behind the cyberattack stole data and have threatened to post it to the “dark web” if their demands aren’t met.

“We are working with cybersecurity experts to identify the data quickly and securely so we can conduct a comprehensive review to determine the full scope of what personal information the cybercriminals may have stolen,” the court said.

Based on an early review, the Kansas Supreme Court believes the stolen information includes Office of Judicial Administration files, district court case records on appeal and other data — some of which could be confidential.

The court said fully reviewing all that might have been stolen will take time, but once it’s complete, they will notify those affected.

“This assault on the Kansas system of justice is evil and criminal. Today, we express our deep sorrow that Kansans will suffer at the hands of these cybercriminals,” the court said.

The Kansas Supreme Court issued a “hard copy” order, meaning paper filing only, shortly after the cyberattack.

In mid-October, a spokesperson for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation confirmed the agency, along with federal partners, is investigating.

Initially, the state’s high court only described the issue as a security incident, estimating electronic filing would be down for about two weeks.

However, over a month later, the state’s online court systems are still down. It’s impacted nearly all Kansas courthouses, including those in Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Douglas counties — and all the way up to the Kansas Supreme Court.

The Johnson County, Kansas, court system was not affected as it’s on a separate online system.