On Friday, July 19, 2024, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County announced that its Court Technology Services (CTS) Division identified a serious security event in the Court’s internal systems which was determined to be a ransomware attack. The attack began in the early morning hours of Friday, July 19. The attack is believed to be unrelated to the CrowdStrike issue currently creating disruptions to technology platforms worldwide.

Immediately upon discovery of the attack, the Court disabled its network systems to mitigate further harm. The Court’s network systems will remain disabled at least through the weekend to enable the Court to further remediate the issue. The Court is receiving support from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CALOES) as well as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the breach and mitigate its impacts. At this time, the preliminary investigation shows no evidence of court user’s data being compromised.

Over the past few years, the Court said it “has invested heavily in its cybersecurity operations, modernizing its cybersecurity infrastructure and making strategic staff investments in the Cybersecurity Division within CTS. As a result of this investment, the Court was able to quickly detect an intrusion and address it immediately.”

By Sunday, July 21, the Superior Court provided an update and announced that the “Superior Court of Los Angeles County will be closed tomorrow, July 22, 2024, as the Court works diligently to repair and reboot network systems that were severely impacted by a ransomware attack first detected the morning of Friday, July 19. This closure includes all 36 courthouse locations throughout Los Angeles County.”

“The Court experienced an unprecedented cyber-attack on Friday which has resulted in the need to shut down nearly all network systems in order to contain the damage, protect the integrity and confidentiality of information and ensure future network stability and security,” said Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner. “While the Court continues to move swiftly towards a restoration and recovery phase, many critical systems remain offline as of Sunday evening. One additional day will enable the Court’s team of experts to focus exclusively on bringing our systems back online so that the Court can resume operations as expeditiously, smoothly and safely as possible.”

The update said that “Court staff have been working vigorously over the past 72 hours in partnership with outside consultants, vendors, other courts and law enforcement to get the Court’s network systems back online. These systems span the Court’s entire operation, from external systems such as the MyJuryDuty Portal and the Court’s website to internal systems such as the Court’s case management systems.”

“While the team of experts has made significant progress, there remain some challenges that are delaying progress. With many of the Court’s network systems still inaccessible as of Sunday evening, the Court will close tomorrow in order to provide one additional day to get essential networks back online. At this time, the Court does not anticipate being closed beyond Monday, July 22. The Court recognizes the significance of a court closure on the communities it serves and the mission it abides by, however, it is essential that judicial officers and court staff are able to work in an environment that is safe and secure and with the information they need to meet the Court’s mission at their disposal. The Court is confident the closure will not exceed one day as it continues to make progress and overcome obstacles.”

At the end of Monday, July 23, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County announced it would reopen Tuesday, July 23, with many technology functions restored and some technology functions either operating with limited functionality or remaining offline after a ransomware attack first detected on Friday, July 19, left most of the Court’s internal and external systems inaccessible.

Nonetheless, another announcement said that remote appearances would not be available today in Civil, Family Law, Probate and Traffic cases. Parties with cases on calendar today in Civil, Family Law, Probate and Traffic departments are instructed to appear in person if possible. Matters in which parties do not appear in person will be continued and parties will be notified of a continuance date by the Court.

Electronic filing remains available for filing of case initiating documents only. Electronic filing of subsequent documents in existing cases remains unavailable at this time.
Certain pages of the Court’s website at www.lacourt.org are available now. Other pages will come back online over the next few days as the remainder of the Court’s systems are brought back online.