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As of Monday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Superior Court system remained shut down due to a ransomware attack that crippled the county’s legal system.

What happened: According to the Los Angeles Superior Court, the ransomware attack began on Friday, prompting the courts to “shut down nearly all network systems in order to contain the damage.” The hackers are reportedly demanding an undisclosed “significant” ransom to end the attack. 

What’s been said: In a statement, the court said, “Court staff have been working vigorously over the past 72 hours in partnership with outside consultants, vendors, other courts, and law enforcement to get the Court’s network systems back online. While the team of experts has made significant progress, there remain some challenges that are delaying progress.” They added that the Court Technology Services (CTS) Division is actively working on repairing and rebooting the network systems that were severely affected by the attack.

What’s been Impacted: The attack impacted all 36 courthouses in the county, halting all Court activities, including hearings and case processing, and affecting the court’s network systems. Additionally, the court confirmed that the “MyJuryDuty Portal” was also impacted.

Digging Deeper: This attack is part of a broader trend of increasing ransomware incidents targeting government institutions and other critical infrastructure. Recently, a ransomware attack against a major company (CDK) disrupted over 50% of car dealerships in the United States.