BAE Systems cyberattack disrupts US federal court operations

The Administrative Office of the US Courts has reported that a cyberattack on government contractor BAE Systems has compromised the notice system utilized by federal bankruptcy courts.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Administrative Office confirmed that the cyberattack on BAE Systems has halted the production and distribution of essential bankruptcy notices.

"The Administrative Office of the US Courts has maintained communication with the affected courts and is coordinating efforts with BAE Systems. BAE is actively investigating the incident and is working diligently to restore operations," the statement noted.

"Due to this incident, all access to the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) systems and the associated websites operated by BAE on behalf of the Judiciary, including bnc.uscourts.gov, bankruptcynotices.uscourts.gov, notices.uscourts.gov, and the National Creditor Registration Service, are currently unavailable."

BAE Systems, recognized as Europe’s largest defense contractor, is involved in the design and manufacture of military technology for both the UK and US defense departments. The company also serves as a significant provider of enterprise IT, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity services for military, intelligence, and civilian government agencies across the globe.

At the time of writing, spokespeople from both the US Courts and BAE Systems were unavailable for comment when BleepingComputer reached out for further clarification regarding the attack.

In a related context, the US Federal Judiciary, the autonomous judicial segment of the US federal government, stated last year that it is enhancing its cybersecurity measures following a previous cyberattack that impacted its electronic case management systems.

The federal Judiciary also indicated that while the majority of documents within the system are publicly accessible, it has implemented stricter access controls for certain sealed filings that contain sensitive information, aimed at safeguarding against potential threats.

"The federal Judiciary is taking additional measures to bolster protections for sensitive case documents in response to an increase in sophisticated and persistent cyberattacks targeting its case management system," they reported.

While the agency did not confirm the exposure of confidential documents, a report by Politico at that time revealed that hackers had infiltrated the CM/ECF electronic case management systems and the PACER federal court document management platform, resulting in access to sensitive information, including the identities of confidential informants.