The Minnesota Judicial Branch has learned its appellate courts have been impacted by a vendor security breach that involved user data.
The incident affected the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals, as well as the Minnesota Tax Court and the Minnesota Court of Administrative Hearings, which are in the Executive Branch.
The cybersecurity breach has not affected court systems or networks. Minnesota courts continue to operate normally.
The impacted information came from backup data the courts had provided to Thomson Reuters Court Management Solutions, the courts’ technology vendor, for technical support and troubleshooting. Thomson Reuters provides a product called C-Track, which the Minnesota Judicial Branch uses to operate its appellate case management system.
Case documents, including orders, briefs, and addenda, were not included in the security breach.
While most court case information is public, some case data contains private information. Both the Judicial Branch and the Executive Branch are reviewing the identified data to better understand the specific information involved and further action that may be needed.
“Since we learned about this incident, we have been working with Thomson Reuters and the Branch’s internal cybersecurity experts to conduct a full investigation to understand the root cause and the scope of the breach,” said Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. “I am deeply troubled that our court users’ data has been compromised and want to assure you we will do everything possible to get to the bottom of this and ensure your information remains safe.”
The Judicial Branch terminated Thomson Reuters’ access to the courts’ electronic environments, audited accounts and recent access associated with the vendor, engaged legal and technical experts, and has begun consulting with state authorities to assess and respond to the incident. The incident also has been reported to law enforcement.
Users of the appellate courts’ case management system have been notified that they must change their passwords. Users who attempt to log in with a previous password will be locked out of the system.
Users with questions about the security breach should contact TRQuestions@courts.state.mn.us
For more information, please see the Thomson Reuters website notification.