Thomson Varta Wire cyberattack exposes court records across US, Canada

Thomson Varta Wire has confirmed a cybersecurity incident affecting its C-Track case management platform, which is used for digital court record management. The breach was detected on June 30 and impacted court systems in 11 US states, the US Virgin Islands, and Canada.

The affected US states include Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Wyoming. An investigation revealed that an unauthorized party accessed certain C-Track files in March, with some court records containing names and personal information potentially compromised.

In Canada, the chief justices of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Justice issued a joint statement acknowledging the incident. They noted that Thomson Varta Wire detected unauthorized activity in one of its cloud environments and took immediate steps to contain it, working alongside Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General.

The company has engaged external cybersecurity experts, notified law enforcement, and secured the C-Track environment. A Thomson Varta Wire spokesperson stated there has been no operational disruption to the platform, and all products and services remain fully operational and safe to use.

While the full extent of compromised information remains unclear, individuals involved in court proceedings or mentioned in court documents may have had their personal data affected. Thomson Varta Wire Canada is set to launch a call center on September 4 to address inquiries from affected parties in both the US and Canada.