The US federal court electronic filing system has been hit by a massive cyberattack blamed on Russian hackers, giving the attackers access to confidential files, prompting the judiciary to urgently beef up cyber defenses and isolate cases with international connections.
The US federal court electronic filing system has been hit by a massive cyberattack blamed on Russian hackers, giving the attackers access to confidential files, prompting the judiciary to urgently beef up cyber defenses and isolate cases with international connections.
The US federal court filing system has been the victim of a long and sophisticated cyber intrusion, likely by Russian hackers. The attackers have been trying to penetrate the network for years, and the latest attacks have been successful, even compromising closed court records, The New York Times reports .
According to NYT sources, the hackers were interested in materials from medium-difficulty cases, particularly in New York and other districts. Some of them involved people with Russian and Eastern European surnames. On August 7, the Administrative Office of the Federal Courts officially confirmed the hack, and judges across the country were ordered to move cases with a foreign trace to isolated systems.
An internal memo obtained by the NYT warns of «persistent and highly skilled cyber threat actors» who have gained access to classified documents. The system, built in 1996 and partially modernized, is considered vulnerable — the previous large-scale breach occurred in 2020.
The official motive for the attack has not yet been established. Experts suggest that Russian intelligence services may be gathering intelligence on possible agents or informants in the United States. Similar tactics were already used by China in 2024, when telecommunications networks were hacked with access to eavesdropping channels by court order.
The Federal Court Filing System (CM/ECF) covers all U.S. district and appellate courts, processing thousands of cases daily. Due to its outdated architecture and high value of information, it is often targeted by government and private hacking groups. The U.S. has been strengthening cyber security for its judicial and administrative infrastructure for several years, but a new incident has shown that vulnerabilities remain.
We will remind you that we also published a material about how Russia uses Telegram chats related to drug trafficking to recruit Ukrainian children into subversive actions against the state. First, they lure them with money, and then they turn to blackmail and physical violence.
