Kansas officials blame 5-week disruption of court system on ‘sophisticated foreign cyberattack’

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Officials say cybercriminals hacked into the Kansas court system, stole sensitive data and threatened to post it on the dark web in a ransomware attack that has hobbled access to records for more than five weeks. The disclosure Tuesday that a “sophisticated foreign cyberattack” is to blame is confirmation of what computer security experts suspected after the state’s Judicial Branch announced Oct. 12 that it was pausing electronic filings. Until now, state officials had released few details, describing it simply as a “security incident, even as stacks of paper piled up.