Arizona Supreme Court Cyberattack Compromises Personal Data
A cyberattack has exposed sensitive data related to individuals with unpaid court-related debts in Arizona. The breach, which was executed through a phishing email, affected the state Supreme Court’s systems.
The Arizona Supreme Court disclosed that hackers managed to download information from the FARE program, which deals with debts from civil, traffic, and criminal cases. This data includes names and social security numbers for approximately 1.3 million individuals accumulated over three decades.
In a statement, the court clarified, “The data was copied from a back-up server where highly compressed information is maintained. The court has no evidence that any data has been accessed, is readable, or has been shared. No court records were deleted or altered.”
This revelation follows a separate announcement concerning the unauthorized access to reports on children in Arizona’s foster care system, as noted in recent court communications.
The court is proactively reaching out to potentially impacted individuals through text messages and will provide breach details in their mailed collections notices. Individuals affected by the breach are advised to secure their credit and explore resources on identity theft and data security provided by the Federal Trade Commission and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently investigating this incident.
