Technology

Apparently Russia Hacked Our Courts Because What Else Could Go Wrong?

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It’s a testament to this week that we learned on Wednesday that the SolarWinds hack — a cyberattack first publicized in December that stands to be one of the largest attacks on government computers ever — compromised the federal court system and we’re only getting to writing about it on Friday because thousands of real life people tried to hack the government that afternoon!

The SolarWinds hack was discovered by cybersecurity company FireEye in early December. The sophisticated assault infiltrated government computers by targeting a government vendor, SolarWinds, and embedding the virus in the software that was then sold to government agencies:

According to FireEye, the hackers gained “access to victims via trojanized updates to SolarWinds’ Orion IT monitoring and management software”. Basically, a software update was exploited to install the ‘Sunburst’ malware into Orion, which was then installed by more than 17,000 customers.

FireEye says the attackers relied on “multiple techniques” to avoid being detected and “obscure their activity”. The malware was capable of accessing the system files. What worked in the malware’s favour was it was able to “blend in with legitimate SolarWinds activity”, according to FireEye.

Once installed, the malware gave a backdoor entry to the hackers to the systems and networks of SolarWinds’ customers. More importantly, the malware was also able to thwart tools such as anti-virus that could detect it.

The government has officially fingered Russia as the culprit.

In any event, this pervasive attack got into U.S. court systems, guaranteeing that Russian operatives are right this minute marveling at how the country allows so many copyright trolls to exist. Per Bloomberg Law:

The U.S. federal judiciary’s electronic filing and case management system suffered an “apparent compromise” during the hack of SolarWinds Orion products, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said Wednesday.

The federal courts are working with the Department of Homeland Security on an audit of the system, AO director James Duff said in a memo distributed to federal courts. The federal courts “suspended all national and local use” of the Orion IT tool after the Department of Homeland Security issued a directive about the breach in December, according to an AO statement.

Until that’s all worked out, “highly sensitive documents” will have to be submitted on paper (or secure electronic device) to the never-ending delight of every 80-year-old partner who still responds to emails by writing on print-outs and sending them back via internal mail.

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SolarWinds Hack Compromises U.S. Courts Electronic Filings [Bloomberg Law]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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