Portions of Pennsylvania Courts website unavailable due to cyberattack

Digital Brief: Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Portions of the Pennsylvania Courts' website are currently unavailable due to a denial of service cyberattack, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Debra Todd announced Sunday night. 

A denial of service cyberattack happens when "malicious actors flood the targeted host or network with traffic until the target cannot respond or simply crashes, preventing access for legitimate users," according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. 

"Our court information technology and executive team is working closely with law enforcement including the CISA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I to investigate the incident," Todd said in a statement.  

At this time, there's no sign that any court data was compromised, and courts will remain open to the public, according to the release. 

The cyberattack was identified on Sunday and is currently affecting court web services, including PACFile, the use of online docket sheets, PAePay and the Guardianship Tracking System.

More information will be provided once it becomes available, Pennsylvania Courts said. 

Another cyberattack in Pennsylvania

The cyberattack to the Pennsylvania Courts' website happens after the Bucks County emergency dispatch system was down after a nine-day outage due to a cyber attack. 

A ransomware group took the system fully offline on Jan. 21.  

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