Foreign cyberattack on Kansas court system may have stolen personal data from 150k people

Cybersecurity experts have now determined that about 150,000 people potentially had their personal data stolen in a cyberattack nearly seven months ago.

"We're sorry anyone was personally impacted by the actions of the criminals who attacked our court computer systems," Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert said in a statement. "The judicial branch respects the privacy of information given to us, and it's a high priority throughout the court system to keep that information secure."

The Kansas judicial branch of government was the "victim of a sophisticated foreign cyberattack" on Oct. 12, disrupting access to online systems used by courts in 104 of the state's 105 counties plus the appellate courts. Public access to records was limited and courts were forced to operate by paper and fax machines.

Most systems are back up and running, though some, like the online inquiry system appellate cases, remain offline.

Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts investigated what happened and what was affected, determining there had been unauthorized access to files stored on the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration network. In a process that took until April 23, the files were examined to verify that personal information may have been stolen and identify potential victims of the data breach.

"We store information on our networks in various formats, and some files are complex, which lengthened the time it took to determine which files included personal information," Luckert said. "We believed it was worth the extra effort and prevention of needless worry to clarify who was affected and who was not."

About 150,000 people were potentially affected, as opposed to anyone who had ever interacted with the court system. The judicial branch has worked with a vendor to contact people who may have been victims of the data breach and has provided them with information and resources to protect themselves.

Personal information came from litigation files, bar applications and other administrative records. Stolen data may include names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account information and other data.

More information for affected individuals is available online at www.kscourts.org/security-incident, or you may call 1-888-861-6382.

"The Kansas Office of Judicial Administration takes seriously the need to protect the privacy and security of all information in its care and regrets any inconvenience or concern that this matter may cause," the judicial branch said in a Monday news release.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas court data breach may have affected 150,000 people