Colorado State Public Defender's office hit with cyberattack
The Office of the Colorado State Public Defender was recently hit with a cyberattack, a spokesman told CBS News Colorado.
The Public Defender's Office, which provides legal defense in criminal cases for people who can't afford an attorney, said it shut down its computer network as it works to determine what happened, what was impacted and how to move forward.
"Our office recently became aware that some data within our computer system was encrypted by malware," said spokesman James Karbach. "As a preventative measure, we temporarily disabled our computer network and are working to safely and securely bring systems back online. Our operations will be limited while the network is offline."
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No other details were immediately available but Austin Chambers, a partner at international law firm Dorsey & Whitney at its Denver office which focuses on technology, data privacy and security compliance, says the impact on public defenders across the state is considerable.
"It appears that all public defenders are completely locked out of all digital services. The office is statewide and almost entirely online," says Chambers. "So, the system shutdown appears to have more or less sidelined most of the public defense activities of the public defender's office across the state. It appears they cannot access case files, and accordingly, their ability to represent clients is significantly impaired."
The best case scenario, Chambers says, is a delay, and no loss of confidential client data.
"But to add, these sorts of attacks are quite common, and often target entities that play critical roles, e.g. hospitals, financial services, and the like," says Chambers. "Certainly a major issue when it impacts the representation of criminal defendants reliant on public defenders, many of whom will have to reschedule hearings etc."
Rob McCallum, public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department said its systems were not impacted but are monitoring its systems for any abnormalities: "We are secure and fully operational."
