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Portions of the Pennsylvania Courts’ website have been down since Sunday as a result of a cyber attack, according to a statement released by Chief Justice Debra Todd.
The FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are investigating the attack, which happened Sunday. Online services being affected include filing systems, docket sheets, electronic payment methods and a guardianship tracking system.
Todd said the issue is the result of a denial of service cyber attack. In these cases, an internet host or network is flooded with traffic until it can’t respond, according to the cyber security and infrastructure agency.
“Our court information technology and executive team are working closely with law enforcement … to investigate the incident,” she said, adding there is no indication any court data was compromised.
Courts in Pennsylvania remain open to the public. Filings and payments are being accepted in person and by mail for those web-based services that are affected.
— PA Courts (@PACourts) February 5, 2024
Attempts to reach the Pennsylvania Courts website Sunday and early Monday showed an error message, indicating the possibility that the site might be temporarily unavailable or too busy through a connection timeout error message. Monday afternoon, the site said it was undergoing maintenance. It was unclear when the problem would be resolved.
Cyber attacks on government entities have happened in the area in recent months. Washington County government is recovering from one in late January, according to TribLive news partner WTAE.
Most forms of county government involving a computer were completely shut down as a result of that attack, the news outlet reported. The attack remains under investigation.
In November, Pennsylvania lawmakers asked federal officials to investigate a cyber attack on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa. The lawmakers said in a letter that the attack was led by an Iranian-backed hacker group.
“Any attack on our nation’s critical infrastructure is unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “If a hack like this can happen here in Western Pennsylvania, it can happen elsewhere in the United States.”
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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