Arizona Supreme Court says hackers stole residents’ personal data

The Arizona Supreme Court announced Friday that the state’s court system was attacked by hackers who stole the personal information of “many Arizonans.”

Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer said in a statement that the state court system was targeted by criminal hackers “or their bots.”

“Court leaders believe the criminal hackers copied personally identifiable information about many Arizonans,” Timmer said. “The Supreme Court’s Administrative Office of the Courts is in the process of alerting as many people as possible whose information it believes the criminal hackers copied.” 

A spokesperson for the court system told Recorded Future News that the incident did not involve ransomware and the hackers have not issued ransom demands for the stolen data as of Monday. 

Timmer said the court would not release further details about the incident because they may impact the investigation into the attack. 

“I personally spoke with the topranking FBI leader in the state, and I pledged our full commitment to supporting their investigation and minimizing the likelihood that the information will be used to further jeopardize Arizonans,” she added. “We’re in touch with those affected and will share more information as soon as we’re able.” 

No hacking group has publicly taken credit for the attack. 

Court systems continue to bear the brunt of state-level cyberattacks due to the troves of sensitive personal information and law enforcement data held on judicial servers. A ransomware attack shut down nearly all of Kansas’ court systems in 2023 and took months to fully resolve.

State and municipal courts in California, Nebraska, South Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois have all faced a variety of ransomware attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) incidents and data breaches over the last four years. 

In November, ransomware attackers breached the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, snarling the state’s court system for nearly a month and forcing courts to provide time extensions for certain criminal and civil cases. 

The organization responsible for managing real estate and civil court filings in Georgia was also hit with ransomware in November.

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is a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.