U.S. Court System Security Breached: Sealed Files At Risk

The U.S. federal court system is facing a major security hack. And according to the house judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler, it has since had lingering impacts on the department of justice and other agencies.

Nadler mentioned the NSD’s efforts to protect America from foreign attackers of its political system before moving on to describe the breach. The representative’s comments appear to be in reference to James C. According to The Register, Duff’s January 2021 disclosure of an apparent compromise of confidentiality in the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system (CM/ECF) of the Judiciary. James C. Duff was at the time the secretary of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

The U.S. court hacked

These records, which the U.S. government files in matters involving national security, provide important intelligence. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen, who was the main witness at the hearing, said the investigation is still ongoing by the Department of Justice and that the attack has not affected the work of his team.

A vulnerability in CM/ECF may have been exploited in that instance, “greatly risking compromise” of extremely sensitive non-public papers held there, notably sealed files. Matt Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, made reference to the danger of cyberattacks by foreign countries. As he informed the U.S. House of Representative Judiciary Committee that the occurrence was a significant concern.

Rep. Jerold Nadler, the panel’s Democratic chair, questioned Olsen in reaction to his claims that “three hostile foreign actors” had hacked the courts’ document filing system. According to Nadler, the committee was only made aware of the breach’s “startling breadth and scale” in March. Olsen stated that the Justice Department was closely collaborating with federal judges across the nation to address the problem.

Olsen did not address the question of who was responsible for the attack, but he did mention that his division was generally focused on the danger of cyberattacks by other countries, such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. What are your thoughts on this? Comment down below.