July 25, 2024 at 05:16AM
Several courts in California, including Los Angeles County, lost phone services due to a ransomware attack. Phone servers for courts in other counties were affected, disrupting operations such as juror notifications. Los Angeles courthouses were closed, but have now reopened with some limitations. Officials aim to restore the phone system by the weekend.
The meeting notes indicate that several courts across California, including those in Los Angeles, Shasta, Inyo, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and Colusa counties, lost phone lines due to a ransomware attack. The attack also affected the phone systems, fax, and text reminders at the Shasta County courthouse. As a result of the attack, jurors in Shasta County were advised to check online for jury duty reporting instructions. The attack also impacted the computer network of the Los Angeles County courts, leading to the closure of courthouses, with some services still unavailable by Tuesday. However, the Shasta County Superior Court managed to continue its operations as usual, with hopes of restoring the phone system by the weekend. The attack on the Los Angeles courts was confirmed to be a separate incident from the faulty CrowdStrike software update. Ransomware attacks are described as holding a computer system hostage by encrypting files and demanding payment for restoration of access. Finally, the meeting notes provide related information about similar attacks on the websites of the Arizona Court System and the Kansas Courts’ computer systems, as well as the resolution of a ransomware attack on a California county.