There are many words and phrases that could be used to describe the federal case management system. “Up-to-date” is not one of them. That’s why no one was surprised when PACER got hacked earlier this month. Who knows, maybe someone chucked “maga2024!” in the password box and lucked out? What you can be sure of is that it would be harder for hackers to do their namesake if the government did a better job of securing case information. A senator is taking his complaints to the top of the federal judiciary in the hopes of getting the ball rolling.
Reuters has coverage:
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on Monday asked Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts to commission an independent review of the federal judiciary’s cybersecurity practices, following a major hack of the court system’s electronic case management system.
Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, in a letter to Roberts said the recent breach of the federal judiciary’s filing system marked the second time since 2020 it had been hacked by foreign actors exploiting the same cyber vulnerabilities.
Might take Roberts a while — he’s probably still going through the backlog of little drawings with signatures on the crotch from a guy that was super appreciative of him doing a big favor. That said, the Chief Justice has already displayed an interest in technological developments, maybe that could morph in to an interest toward cybersecurity. Ron Wyden pointed out that the government’s failure to strengthen cybersecurity puts highly sensitive and confidential information at risk. Frankly, does anyone else find it strange that people managed to use threats of data vulnerability as a rallying point to ban TikTok before they went to check the lock on sensitive court information? It isn’t like this month’s hacking was the first time; the same software was hacked by several people back in 2020. Priorities, people.
US Senator Calls For Independent Review Of Federal Judiciary Cybersecurity [Reuters]
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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.