The San Joaquin County Superior Court has reported a significant cyberattack that has rendered nearly all its digital services inoperable, impacting approximately 800,000 residents. The court initially alerted the public to ongoing technology issues on Wednesday and confirmed the nature of the incident as a cybersecurity breach on Thursday.
The attack has disrupted critical services, including the court’s phone and fax operations, websites with juror reporting instructions, the e-filing platform, and credit card payment processing. As a result, some jurors scheduled for this week have been excused from service.
The court stated, “Since our last update, San Joaquin County Superior Court has been working diligently to investigate connectivity issues that have impacted some of our systems. We have determined these issues to result from a cybersecurity incident.” The court emphasized its proactive response to the breach, which included isolating its systems from the internet to contain the situation. Consequently, part of the court’s network remains offline, and there is currently no timeline for when services will be fully restored.
Cybersecurity professionals have been engaged to assist with remediation efforts and investigate the attack’s origins. As of now, no specific hacking group or ransomware organization has claimed responsibility for the incident.
This latest attack on San Joaquin County follows a troubling trend of cyber incidents targeting governmental entities in California. Just months ago, the Los Angeles County Superior Court experienced a ransomware attack that caused extensive disruptions lasting several weeks. Modesto, located approximately 30 minutes south of San Joaquin County, also faced its ransomware attack last year.
