By Raphael Satter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. judiciary said it is probing an “apparent compromise” of its case management system, saying that hackers appear to have accessed “highly sensitive non-public documents,” including sealed filings, stored on its network.
Case management systems are used to share documents, pleadings, and evidence between the courts, plaintiffs and defendants. Although many of the documents are public by nature, some are sealed — including for reasons of national security.
The office did not go into detail about what specific sorts of documents were thought to have been accessed.
The announcement – made in a statement published Wednesday – did not say who was responsible for the breach but it made reference to new security measures implemented following the disclosure that hackers alleged to be operating on Russia’s behalf broke into a series of U.S. government networks, including the Department of Justice.
Russia has denied responsibility for the hacking.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
The statement said that, “due to the nature of the attacks, the review of this matter and its impact is ongoing.”
(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
