Ransomware Hits Los Angeles Courts Amid Microsoft IT Outage

A ransomware attack hit Los Angeles state courts, as a global IT outage brought airports, hospitals, banks, and other services to a halt on Friday.

The early morning strike is thought to be unrelated to Friday’s massive tech shutdown blamed on a software update by CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., according to a news release from California Superior Court, Los Angeles County. CrowdStrike’s software protects businesses from ransomware attacks.

The court shut off its network systems upon discovering the attack, and they will remain offline through at least the weekend.

Early investigations haven’t shown evidence that court users’ data was compromised, according to the release.

Los Angeles County has the largest single unified trial court in the country, and serves nearly 10 million residents.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and local, state, and federal law enforcement are helping to investigate and stem the impact of the breach.

“Over the past few years, the Court has invested heavily in its cybersecurity operations, modernizing its cybersecurity infrastructure and making strategic staff investments,” the news release said. As a result, “the Court was able to quickly detect an intrusion and address it immediately.”