PA statewide court agency’s website hit by disabling cyberattack

• The Pennsylvania Office of Courts’ website has been hit by a cyber attack that disabled some online systems, officials said.
• The attack sparked an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
• Chief Justice Debra Todd described the attack as a “denial of service” cyberattack, in which attackers overwhelm a targeted host or network with traffic to prevent access to legitimate users.

The Pennsylvania Office of Courts’ website was hit by a cyber attack that did not compromise any data, but caused some online systems to go down, officials announced Sunday night.

Chief Justice Debra Todd said in a statement that the federal government’s chief cybersecurity office, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating the attack.

He defined this as “an attack,” using the federal government’s explanation that an attacker “floods a target host or network with traffic, preventing access for legitimate users, until the target becomes unresponsive or simply crashes.” It was called a “denial of service” cyber attack.

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The Pennsylvania Administrative Office of Courts, a court agency, did not immediately identify the attacker or a motive. The agency also did not say whether the cybersecurity measures worked as designed or whether the attackers demanded money or a ransom.

Among the online systems that were disabled were the use of online dockets and electronic case document filing portals.

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Todd said the state’s courts will remain open.