The Kansas Supreme Court has finally admitted that the security incident on the information systems used by the court was a ransomware attack. In a statement yesterday, the court says that the Kansas Judicial Branch was a victim of a sophisticated foreign cyberattack. The cybercriminals also stole data and threatened to post it to a dark web site if their demands were not met.
They are working with cybersecurity experts to identify the data quickly and securely so they can conduct a comprehensive review to determine the full scope of what personal information the cybercriminals may have stolen. Based on their preliminary review, it appears the stolen information includes Office of Judicial Administration files, District Court case records on appeal, and other data, some of which may be confidential under law. They add that they are working to fortify the systems to guarantee against future attacks, but it will take several weeks to return to normal operations. They called the attack evil and criminal.
