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Phishing scam may have exposed thousands of Arizona court records
Hackers targeted the Arizona court network through a phishing email, the court says. Chief Justice Ann Timmer confirmed IT staff shut down the system after detecting massive unauthorized data downloads. FOX 10's Jacob Luthi reports.
PHOENIX - Tens of thousands of people may have had personal information compromised in a cyberattack on Arizona’s judicial network, and court officials now say the breach began with a phishing scam.
What they're saying:
"It only takes one time for an employee to click on the email they shouldn’t click on," Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Timmer said. "And in comes some kind of bot or automated system or something that can worm its way into your system and that's what happened."
Timmer said court IT staff discovered the breach Thursday after detecting an unusually large amount of data being downloaded from the system.
"An inordinate amount of data was going out, being downloaded from our system, so it was shut down immediately," Timmer said.
Court officials believe hackers may have copied personal information, including names and addresses tied to current and expired protective orders.
Timmer said the FBI was notified, and the court began contacting people whose information may have been copied.
Officials said there is no evidence so far that the information has been shared and that investigators have not identified a motive.
Arizona court system targeted in cyberattack compromising personal records
The FBI is investigating a cyberattack targeting the Arizona court system that may have compromised personally identifiable information belonging to residents.
Dig deeper:
Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent, said financial gain is often a motive in cyberattacks involving personal information.
"The money is the motive almost always," Coffindaffer said. "Specifically, people want to sell that information, and it can be worth a lot. You’re talking about people in the court system. You’re talking about people with protective orders."
Coffindaffer said investigators will examine how the hackers gained access and what they did once inside the system.
"These types of hackers, yes, they use phishing mechanisms, but they use all sorts of different efforts to gain access, and the FBI is always concerned because these hackers are out there looking at all systems," she said.
Timmer said the court has multiple cybersecurity safeguards in place, including 24/7 monitoring, regular security scans and required employee training. She said the court will conduct a review of the breach.
Chief Justice Ann Timmer apologized to individuals with protective orders after a phishing scam may have allowed hackers to copy personal court data. Court schedules and records are unaffected.
What you can do:
Timmer also offered a message to people with protective orders who may be concerned about their information.
"Everybody with a protective order that’s worried about this, I hope that this data breach isn’t readable and that nothing will happen, but I am really, really so sorry that you even have to worry about it," Timmer said.
Timmer said the court has set up a call center to answer questions and provide additional information, while local law enforcement agencies have been alerted and anyone who feels they are in danger should contact police.
Timmer added the court has also set up an FAQ page – click here to read it.