Details have emerged about a cyber attack on Victoria's court system, with hackers accessing weeks of recorded court and tribunal hearings.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Court Services Victoria was first made aware of the attack on December 21 but it's believed the courts' audio visual technology network was first compromised on November 1.
In a statement, Court Services Victoria stated it had taken "immediate action to isolate and disable the affected network to continue operations across the court system.
It said as a result court hearings will continue as normal into the new year.
It comes after the audio visual link system used at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court for remote appearances was offline in the final hearing days of 2023.
"It is possible some hearings before November 1 are also affected," the Court Services Victoria statement read.
"The potential access is confined to recordings stores on the network.
"No other court systems or records, including employee or financial data, were accessed."
All jurisdictions in the Victorian court system except VCAT may have been breached across the period of November 1 to December 21.
The court will notify people who were in hearings where recordings may have been accessed.
"Maintaining security for court users is our highest priority," the statement read.
"Our current efforts are focused on ensuring our systems are safe."
A dedicated contact centre will be set up from Tuesday for people who were affected by the cyber attack.
Ballarat criminal lawyer Luke McMahon said the breach was "shocking" considering the wide-spread adoption of audio visual link technology by the court system during the COVID pandemic, where many cases could not be heard in person.
"It's a pretty shocking revelation given how much both the courts and practitioners have come to rely on the AVL system," Mr McMahon said.
"Huge pressure has been placed on CSV to both expand existing systems and implement new technology; for the most part they have done a pretty good job given the circumstances.
"Mistakes happen I guess and it's a reminder that the introduction and expansion of technology brings with it new vulnerabilities."
Since the peak of the COVID-lockdown practice directions from the chief magistrate have required court attendees and their legal representatives to come to court in-person for a hearing as a matter of best practice.
However many still use the audio visual link system to appear in court, particularly when an accused person is appearing from prison.
"It would appear from the statement of CSV that the information accessed was isolated. However, I think it would be good to have a transparent explanation of what occurred and what steps are being taken to ensure people feel confident using the system in future," Mr McMahon said.
Victorian Legal Aid, the service which provides free and subsidised legal advice to Victorians in the court system said they were confident in Court Services Victoria's response to the data breach.
"We are aware of the cybersecurity incident impacting courts across Victoria. We're working closely with Court Services Victoria to understand the extent of the incident, and any impacts on our clients.
"We are confident that CSV took immediate action to isolate and disable the affected network and to put in place arrangements to ensure continued operations across the courts.
"While we work to understand the scope of this incident, the most up to date information can be found on the CSV website. They have also established a contact centre for inquiries about the incident."
It comes after earlier major data breaches at Optus and St Vincents Health Australia in the past two years.
- with AAP
