Texas judicial conduct system and Washington bar association grapple with cyberattacks
Image from Shutterstock.com.
Cyberattacks affected the work of the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct and a website of the the Washington State Bar Association, according to two recent news stories.
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct had limited ability to access information and fully investigate complaints as a result of a ransomware attack, according to the commission’s annual report. The problems occurred for “a significant, extended time period,” according to the report.
Law360 had coverage.
The commission resolved about 27% fewer cases in fiscal 2020 than in the previous year, the report said.
The cyber intruders had attacked the commission’s tech provider, the Texas Office of Court Administration, in May. Texas appeals courts were also affected. Most appellate court files were restored through backup systems two months after the cyber intrusion, Law.com reported in July. The court case management system was also restored.
The Washington State Bar Association also had to grapple with a cyberattack that happened about a month ago. The bar association announced last week that it had restored the website portal that it uses to license new members, according to Law360. The website was shut down after the bar discovered that it had been infiltrated with a malicious code that targets credit card numbers.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association also discovered malicious code on their websites, according to Law360. Malicious code also affected third-party software used for websites of the New York City Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.
