Hackers breach recordings dating back to 2016 in Victoria’s court cyber attack, revealing deeper extent of breach

A cyber attack on Victoria’s Court System is feared to be worse than originally thought after it was revealed that recordings dating back as far as 2016 had been breached.

This comes after Court Services Victoria (CSV) was alerted to a cyber attack on Dec. 21, 2023, initially believing the hacking only affected hearings from the Supreme, County, Magistrates, and Coroners courts from Nov. 1.

In a Jan. 18 statement, the Chief Executive of CSV, Louise Anderson, disclosed that “it was possible” that some hearings before Nov. 1 could have been accessed.

“The investigation remains ongoing, but CSV can confirm the recordings of some hearings in the Supreme Court, County Court, and Coroners Court on the audio-visual system were prior to 1 November 2023,” Ms. Anderson said.

The cyber attack targeted matters heard in the Supreme Court in Ballarat in April 2016, in addition to matters heard in Bendigo, Shepparton, and Wodonga during parts of 2023.

Hackers also accessed Supreme Court matters held in the County Court for six months in 2023.

Additionally, CSV extended the date range when hackers accessed County Court files from Nov. 1 to Dec. 21, to include three days in April 2016.

Hackers also accessed more than four years of County Court files dating from May 28, 2019, to Jan. 1, 2023.

“In many courts, the system typically holds recordings for around 28 days, so the primary investigation period initially was 1 November to 21 December, when CSV identified the problem and isolated and disabled the affected network,” Ms. Anderson said.

“Not all courts held hearings that were recorded on the impacted audio-visual network during that time frame.”

There was no change to the date range for the Magistrates Court, where targeted matters dated back to Nov. 1.

The Children’s Court and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) were also unaffected.

“We remain sincerely apologetic for the distress that this may cause people who have been part of hearings during the identified timeframe, and we are committed to providing support to impacted people requiring assistance,” Ms. Anderson added.

Court Says It’s Ready to Respond to Unauthorised Publication of Recordings

CSV said it is not aware of any unauthorised publication of the recordings.

“Monitoring of this will continue,” Ms. Anderson said, adding that if any hacked material is published, CSV will work with relevant agencies to assist impacted individuals.

“We are very mindful of the distress any unauthorised publication may cause and we are committed to supporting those impacted if that occurs.”

Meanwhile, Shadow Attorney-General and former opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the failure to secure Victoria’s court files and IT system was a serious concern.

“The compromising of sensitive court proceedings potentially places vulnerable people at risk,” he said, reported the Herald Sun.

“The delays that this cyberattack are causing is only adding to Victoria’s court backlog which is already the worst in the country.

“Labor has underfunded Victoria’s courts for years so the Allan government must accept responsibility for this mess.”

The cyber attack has impacted audiovisual recordings and transcription services.

Media reports have emerged that Russian hackers may have been involved, using commercial ransomware.

Monica O’Shea contributed to this report.