Alaska Court System temporarily suspends online services due to cybersecurity attack

Alaska Court System temporarily suspends online services due to cybersecurity attack

Anchorage, Alaska, May 1, 2021 – The Alaska Court System (ACS) has temporarily disconnected online services, including its website and the ability to look up case information in CourtView, to remove malware from its servers. At this time, the court system does not believe any confidential court documents or employee information has been compromised, but will promptly notify any affected individuals if that occurs. No customer credit card information was compromised.

The court system is working with a cybersecurity company to respond to the incident and prevent any further system breaches. ACS disconnected its servers from the internet to stop any additional incursions. This impacts the public’s ability to:

• access the Alaska Court System website, except for the homepage;

• access to CourtView, the court’s case management system which includes listings of all filings, orders, and hearing dates;

• send email to any court email addresses, including filing documents by email;

• receive email from court email addresses;

• eFiling through TrueFiling;

• submit online juror questionnaires;

• participate by Zoom in hearings or meetings;

• participate in hearings by video from jail facilities that use Polycom systems;

• make online payments for bail or filing fees; and

• send citations through TRACS.

The following systems will continue to work:

• phone, fax and Zoom phone numbers;

• internal email between ACS employees;

• courtroom recording system;

• electronic file access by judicial officers in eFiling locations; and

• courthouse security systems and building access.

It is unclear when the courts will reconnect to the internet. The court system is committed to continuing operations while remedying the cybersecurity incident. Emergency hearings and essential proceedings will occur including: arraignments, domestic violence hearings, Child in Need of Aid emergency hearings, bail hearings, mental health commitment hearings, emergency guardianship proceedings, and search warrant requests. Other proceedings may occur and the court will notify parties of any schedule changes. Most hearings will happen telephonically. All scheduled jury trials will continue as planned.

The court system will be unable to update its website regularly while online services are down. Phone numbers for individual courthouses are the best way to contact the court system. Updates and more information about accessing services and court calendars will be made on the court system’s Facebook page and Twitter account; you do not need Facebook or Twitter accounts to see updates.