Hackers Access 9,000 Domestic Violence Court Documents

A leak of 9,000 sensitive New South Wales court documents may expose the details of domestic violence incidents, including some affecting children. The New South Wales Attorney-General has warned potential victims to take extra precautions in the aftermath as police and forensic experts continue to investigate the incident.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley assured the public that “When we work out exactly whose accounts were compromised, the DCJ (Department of Communities and Justice) will proactively contact those account holders and advise them of what has happened and what the next steps should be.”

He also confirmed that the DoC does not yet know what the hackers have done with the data, but that “there’s 9000 files that appear somehow to have been accessed.” Daley stated that “experts have been looking through the dark web and employing other techniques... to work out what may have happened with the data,” but that it would take “about a week” to identify the attackers.

For now, the information has not been found published online in the public domain or on the dark web. It’s also not yet known if the hackers accessed the data only to view it or if their plan was to exfiltrate the sensitive information.

The exact nature of the leaked data is yet to be determined. However, it’s bound to be troubling as the breach impacted the NSW Online Registry Website, a platform hosting information from both civil and criminal cases from NSW courts. So, it’s likely to include apprehended violence orders and affidavits that contain sensitive information on victims and “protected persons.”

The breach was discovered last week during scheduled maintenance, but it’s not yet known when (or for how long) the hackers had access to the system. On Tuesday, it was reported to the NSW Police State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad. Technicians had repaired and restored the system by 8PM on Wednesday.

What is known is that the hackers accessed the database via a registered user’s account. The department’s cybersecurity staff have since suspended the account.