[UPDATED] Judiciary's digital systems down, a week after cyber attack on AG's office

CRITICAL operations at the Judiciary appear to have crashed because of a disruption to its digital services.

And judges are not certain if court hearings can take place for the remainder of the week.

“It is a complete blackout. We have not been told what is happening or how we should proceed,” said one source.

Just before 11 am yesterday, staff at the Judiciary were told they would not be able to access their official e-mail or their calendars “until further notice.”

Virtual court hearings after that time were affected. Attorneys said they could not file documents related to court matters. The Judiciary had adopted an online filing system during the pandemic. This was unavailable up to late Wednesday.

The Judiciary's website was also unavailable, and e-mails are being returned with an error message.

In-person trials were not affected.

At a hearing at the San Fernando High Court, one judge commented on the issue because the system could not be accessed to provide adjournment dates for cases. The court’s physical diary had to be used to identify rescheduled dates.

The Law Association was also told of the disruption. Attorneys were contacted by WhatsApp and told of the adjournment of their cases.

“The court's operating systems are non-functional and we have no access to any of the needed material or information to facilitate a virtual hearing or even to generate a link.

“The judge keeps a physical diary and we were able to ascertain the matters which were listed for hearing.”

Attorneys were asked to contact their counterparts on the other side to relay the messages from the courts.

Justice Frank Seepersad said at a hearing that his staff were unable to access any information, as there was “absolutely no access to any of the operating systems.”

He described the situation as a “crisis.”

“The nation's courts cannot function, and this is simply untenable.”

Newsday was told not only were the e-mail system and the computerised calendar system affected, but also other aspects of the Judiciary’s operating systeml. Judges and their staff could not access case files or generate links for virtual hearings to send out to attorneys.

It is not certain if Wednesday’s disruption is similar to last week's cyber attack on operations at the Office of the Attorney General.

Questions were sent to the Judiciary’s court protocol and information manager, Carl Francis, by WhatsApp but up to press time a statement was yet to be issued.

Up to late yesterday, judges Newsday spoke with said they had not been given an update.

Newsday understands the Judiciary's IT unit was assessing the problem and working to restore service.

Attorneys have asked the courts and opposing counsel to provide statements to personal e-mail accounts or have hard copies made available. The same has been the case for attorneys at the Chief State Solicitor’s Department and the Solicitor General’s Department.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, said investigations were under way into the recent cyber attack on his ministry. He said he could not comment while the investigations were taking place.

Last Friday, the Ministry of Digital Transformation revealed there had been an attack and that actions were being taken to minimise the threat.

"This unauthorised and illegal access has negatively impacted operations at the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and certain associated divisions."

It said the ministries were working with "leading industry cyber security experts."

“This unauthorised and illegal access has negatively impacted operations at the AGLA and certain associated divisions. Having taken actions to minimise the threat, an investigation, in partnership with leading industry cybersecurity experts, is ongoing. In the meantime, some services that are usually provided are temporarily unavailable,” the Ministry of Digital Transformation said.

Newsday was told that up to Wednesday,
operations at the criminal and civil law departments of the Office of the AG were still experiencing problems.

At the Office of the DPP, prosecutors are unable to access information and files on its systems, including e-mails.

Newsday was told this was worrying since soft copies of all criminal matters for the last 15 years could potentially find themselves in the hands of the wrong people.

That office also receives sensitive e-mails from foreign governments and state security agencies and it is feared that last week’s cyber attack was a ransomware attack, designed to deny users or organisations access to files on their computers.

On Sunday, the National Security Ministry said its cyber-security incident response team (TT-CSIRT) is urging all organisations to take the necessary precautions to mitigate against rising ransomware attacks. It provided resources to help protect systems against ransomware attacks.

The ministry said information provided to TT-CSIRT in those matters was "held securely and in strictest confidence," and information would not be disclosed without the consent of the client organisation.

Earlier attack

In April 2022, the regional Massy Group conglomerate suffered a major data breach.

The company reported that hackers unlawfully accessed data. It was alleged that an international ransomware group dumped files in a hack. A second incident took place five months later.

When the cyber attack on Massy took place, the company temporarily suspended electronic services.

The company acknowledged that more data was unlawfully accessed during the April attack than initially believed.

“Through continued investigation of the cyber-security incident, we are now aware that data unlawfully accessed by the attackers was more extensive than the preliminary stages of the investigation indicated,” said the company said in a release, adding that all potentially affected parties were notified, given the information available at the time.

This story was originally published with the title "Judiciary's work halted by digital problem" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

OPERATIONS at the Judiciary came to a temporary halt on Wednesday.

Newsday understands that just before 11 am, staff were told they would not be able to access official e-mail or their calendars.

Some virtual court hearings after that time were said to be affected, and attorneys said they could not file documents related to court matters.

The Judiciary's website was unavailable and e-mails were being returned with an error message.

In-person cases continued.

It is not certain whether Wednesday’s disruption was similar to last week's cyber attack on operations at the Office of the Attorney General.

Questions have been sent to the Judiciary but a statement is yet to be issued.

Newsday understands the Judiciary's IT unit is currently assessing the problem.

On Tuesday,  Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, said investigations are under way into the recent cyber attack on his ministry.

Last Friday, the Ministry of Digital Transformation revealed there had been an attack and that actions were being taken to minimise the threat.
"This unauthorised and illegal access has negatively impacted operations at the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and certain associated divisions."

It said the ministries were working with "leading industry cyber security experts."

Armour said he was "not at liberty to comment while the investigations are ongoing."