Records of Crucial Cases May Have Been Compromised by a Cyberattack on Victoria’s Court System

Ransomware used to assault Victoria’s court system

An independent expert believes that ransomware was used to assault Victoria’s court system and that the attack was coordinated by Russian hackers.

According to a representative for Court Services Victoria (CSV), hackers gained access to a portion of the audio-visual archive of the court system. This would imply that hearing records including witness testimony from extremely private situations might have been obtained or pilfered.

To alert those whose court appearances were compromised by hackers, CSV is currently setting up a contact center for those who think they might have been impacted.

Though some hearings from before November may have also been impacted, the recordings came from hearings held between November 1 and December 21.

Before Christmas break, on December 21, staff members’ laptops were locked and warnings stating “YOU HAVE BEEN PWND” were displayed on displays. This was the first indication that the attack had taken place.

Court employees received a message that linked them to a text file with threats from hackers on the publication of files taken from the court system. The message also included instructions on how to retrieve the files from the address on the dark web.