By John Sakellariadis via POLITICO
Hackers breached the federal judiciary’s core case management system, affecting both CM/ECF (used by legal professionals) and PACER (used by the public), exposing sealed indictments, witness data, and sensitive warrants; nation-state and criminal actors are suspected.
Chief judges in the 8th Circuit were privately briefed on the breach at a judicial conference; the Justice Department, FBI, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment publicly, and the exact method of intrusion remains unknown.
The incident underscores urgent cybersecurity failures—Judge Michael Scudder told Congress the CM/ECF and PACER systems are "outdated" and "unsustainable," calling their replacement a top priority amid escalating digital threats.
𝕏: Very, very bad: A hack of the federal judiciary's case filing system may have "compromised the identities of confidential informants involved in criminal cases at multiple federal district courts." - Eric Geller (@ericgeller)
A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the attacks, said that the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, along with representatives from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, received a briefing about the attacks on July 23.
The spokesperson added that the committees had requested a classified follow-up briefing in September once Congress returns from its August recess.
It is not immediately clear whether state-sponsored actors or criminal groups are behind the breaches or how they were able to access the federal court filing system.
Suspected nation-state attack
It’s also unclear how the hackers gained access. The breach involves the two primary components of the judiciary’s case management system: the Case Management/Electronic Case Files, or CM/ECF, and PACER.
‘Unrelenting security threats’
Along with information on confidential informants, the filing system also holds sealed indictments, unserved search warrants and other details that criminal suspects could use to avoid capture, according to Politico.
Judicial officials were already aware of potential issues with the electronic filing system.
- In June, Judge Michael Scudder of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described it as “outdated” and “unsustainable due to cyber risks.” Scudder said the system faces “unrelenting security threats of extraordinary gravity.”
- Three foreign hacking groups reportedly targeted the system in July 2022, as officials were still investigating a 2020 incident.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the FBI and the Justice Department have not commented on the reported breach.
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