Moscow [Russia], August 13 : Investigators have found evidence suggesting Russia's involvement in a recent breach of the US federal court document system, which contained highly sensitive records with information that could reveal sources and people charged with national security crimes, The New York Times reported, citing several people who briefed on the breach.
The disclosure comes as US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday, where Trump is planning to discuss his push to end the war in Ukraine. While it's unclear whether an arm of Russian intelligence is behind the hack or if other countries were involved, some of the people familiar with the matter described it as a years-long effort to infiltrate the system.
According to The New York Times, some of the searches included midlevel criminal cases in the New York City area and several other jurisdictions, with some cases involving people with Russian and Eastern European surnames.
Court administrators recently warned Justice Department officials, clerks, and chief judges in federal courts that "persistent and sophisticated cyber threat actors have recently compromised sealed records," according to an internal department memo.
The administrators also advised those officials to quickly remove the most sensitive documents from the system, as per The New York Times.
"This remains an URGENT MATTER that requires immediate action," officials wrote, referring to guidance that the Justice Department had issued in early 2021 after the system was first infiltrated.
The breach is believed to have exposed sensitive information, including documents related to criminal activity with overseas ties, across at least eight district courts.
Last month, the chief judges of district courts across the country were quietly warned to move those kinds of cases off the regular document-management system, according to officials briefed on the request. They were initially told not to discuss the matter with other judges in their districts.
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