Websites for Texas courts are shut down after ransomware attack
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Websites for appellate-level courts in Texas were shut down Friday because of a ransomware attack that was discovered in the early-morning hours of May 8.
There will be no ransom paid, according to the court’s announcement Monday. Information technology staffers were able to catch the ransomware, limiting its impact.
Law360, Courthouse News Service, the Texas Lawyer and the Austin American-Statesman have coverage.
There is no indication at this time that any sensitive information was compromised, according to the press release by the Office of Court Administration.
Court services that have been moved to the cloud were not affected by the hack. The services included tools for e-filing, electronic review of filed documents, collaborative editing and email.
Opinions released Friday were made available on Dropbox at a link released on Twitter.
Temporary websites were created to post judicial branch information. On Tuesday morning, information was available for the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, but appeals court websites were down.
The Office of Court Administration is working with law enforcement and the Texas Department of Information Resources to investigate the breach.
