The Victorian government has all but ruled out paying a ransom to hackers who broke into a system that stores court recordings, including of sensitive cases closed to the public.
Its stance is in line with federal government advice not to encourage hackers but makes it likely that the criminals, whose identity is unknown, will release stolen recordings that could contain sensitive testimony.
Hackers have accessed Victoria’s court system, including potentially sensitive recordings. Bloomberg
Court Services Victoria, the agency that administers the state’s judicial system, confirmed on Tuesday that the hackers had accessed its audiovisual technology late last year.
A spokesman for the Victorian government issued a brief statement on Tuesday, saying its “practice has been not to pay ransomware demands”.
Earlier on Tuesday, acting Victorian Premier Ben Carroll had left open the possibility, saying, “We have a range of choices when it comes to cyber activity”, in response to a question about ransoms.
The breached technology is used to record hearings, including where sensitive witnesses are present, and deliver transcriptions of cases that the media may be barred from covering.
Court Services Victoria chief executive Louise Anderson said recordings between November 1 and December 21 may have been accessed, with earlier recordings also possibly exposed.
All criminal and civil hearings in that time span from the Victorian County Court have been potentially exposed. Other hearings from December 1 to December 21 in the Supreme Court’s criminal and court of appeal divisions may also have been exposed, according to a table released by Court Services.
‘Don’t pay up’
The hack happened on December 8, Court Services said. The ABC reported that the hackers issued a ransom note to the courts on December 21 via its own computers with the text “YOU HAVE BEEN PWND”, which is hacker jargon bragging that a target has been breached.
The federal government’s official advice is for hacking victims not to pay because they have no guarantee that stolen material will be deleted, and it furthers the cybercriminals’ business. But it is common for victims to pay to avoid reputation risk and damage to their customers.
Ms Anderson said Court Services immediately isolated and disabled the affected network when it was informed of the breach. “As a result, hearings in January will be proceeding,” she said. No other court systems were affected, she said.
“We understand this will be unsettling for those who have been part of a hearing,” Ms Anderson said. “We recognise and apologise for the distress that this may cause people.”
Targeting sensitive services such as health or legal organisations and then demanding a payment to delete stolen data is the modus operandi of ransomware gangs that often operate out of Russia.
Medibank was hacked in a similar fashion in 2022, as was Legal Aid in the ACT. The large law firm HWL Ebsworth was breached in 2023. It refused to pay a ransom and its files were released online.
Court Services has established a dedicated hotline for people affected by the breach. Ms Anderson said most court and tribunal hearings were public and not confidential. But she issued a reminder: “The unauthorised use of recordings of hearings is not permitted.”
Mr Carroll said while he did not know the source of the court hack, it had been “well contained” and no hearings had been derailed.
“There has been no evidence to date that there will be any malpractice or judicial irregularities,” Mr Carroll said on Tuesday.
“I don’t know anything about exactly who was responsible, and obviously, it is a sensitive matter and no one wants to see anything of this nature occur. But it has been identified, it has been contained, and all the authorities are working on it.
“I understand that court operations have not been affected, that this operation has been essentially confined – all court cases, all hearings, all evidence and all procedure is thoroughly protected. We’re very confident we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
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