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Court Services Victoria said recordings from various state courts were accessed by attackers and that it is notifying parties that may be impacted.
The Australian state of Victoria has suffered a breach to its court system, which could put witnesses at risk.
Court Services Victoria (CSV) said its audiovisual in-court technology network was disrupted by a cyberattack, impacting its video recordings, audio recordings and transcription services.
As a result of this attack, CSV said recordings of some court cases between 1 November and 21 December may have been accessed. CSV said the cyberattack occurred on 8 December and that it took “immediate action” after it became aware of the incident on 21 December.
The exposed video and audio recordings include hearings from the state’s supreme, county, magistrates’ and coroner’s courts. CSV said it is working with justice system agencies to identify “sensitive material” that may have been included.
One recording from Victoria‘s children’s court in October may have been accessed, as the recording “may have remained on the network”.
“We understand this will be unsettling for those who have been part of a hearing,” CSV said in a statement. “We recognise and apologise for the distress that this may cause people.
“Courts are notifying parties whose hearings may have been affected and those parties can discuss any specific concerns at that time.”
One Australian media site claims the leaked recordings include evidence from a murder trial involving a Melbourne underworld figure.
“All courts have put in place arrangements so that they can continue to safely and securely hear matters while CSV re-establishes the affected network,” CSV said. “The work on the restoration of systems includes works to strengthen security across the broader court and tribunal-wide technology environment.”
Cyberattacks continue to target large companies and the infrastructure of countries. Last month, Sony and Comcast both confirmed they suffered data breaches that impacted their systems. The same month, Iran suffered a cyberattack that disrupted most of its petrol stations. A pro-Israel hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack on the same day that Israel claimed Iran had attempted a cyberattack on one of its hospitals.
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