L.A. County Superior Court closed following ransomware attack
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is closed Monday following a ransomware attack first detected on Friday.
The closure includes all 36 courthouses across the county.
According to Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner, the “unprecedented” cyberattack forced the court — which is the largest trial court system in the U.S. — to shut down nearly all of its network systems.
“The court experienced an unprecedented cyberattack on Friday which has resulted in the need to shut down nearly all network systems in order to contain the damage, protect the integrity and confidentiality of information and ensure future network stability and security,” Jessner said in a statement. “While the court continues to move swiftly towards a restoration and recovery phase, many critical systems remained offline as of Sunday evening…one additional day will enable the court’s team of experts to focus exclusively on bringing our systems back online to that the court can resume operations as expeditiously, smoothly and safely as possible.”
Systems that were affected by the attack “span the court’s entire operation” and include external systems such as the MyJuryDuty Portal and the court’s website in addition to internal case management systems, Jessner said.
A preliminary investigation by officials found that no data appears to have been compromised.
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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is aware of the cyberattack and is “in close communication” with the court.
Inmates will not be transported to court on Monday, LASD said, adding that the closure does not affect the release date of individuals who were sentenced and scheduled for release on Monday.
Evictions and move out orders are also suspended Monday, deputies said.
“We are working closely with the Superior Court to minimize any impact on public safety efforts and to disseminate updated information, ensuring that the public and families of individuals scheduled to appear in court [Monday] are well-informed about the current situation,” LASD stated. “Additionally, we are collaborating with all stakeholders and the courts to safeguard the constitutional rights of our incarcerated population and reverse adverse effects on all members of our community throughout this time.”
L.A. County Superior Court officials say that they don’t anticipate being closed beyond Monday.
The ransomware attack was not related to the CrowdStrike global IT outage that crippled airports and other key businesses in Southern California and across the globe on Friday.
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