L.A. Superior Courts' Hacked Computer Systems Fully Restored

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles County Superior Court system has fully restored its computer systems Tuesday following a ransomware attack that caused a one-day closure of the courts, followed by days of nagging computer issues.

"I remain grateful for the patience demonstrated by court users and the legal community over the past week," Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner said in a statement Monday. "The court's dedicated and determined staff worked with outside experts and law enforcement to expeditiously restore our systems that were critically impacted by the ransomware attack."

"As of this (Monday) morning, all of the court's primary systems are fully functional and timely and efficient access to justice for Los Angeles County residents has been restored."

What Jessner called "an unprecedented cyber-attack" on July 19 forced closure on the courts last Monday "with a gradual restoration and resumption of services" occurring.

"The average downtime associated with a ransomware attack can span weeks at a time," Executive Officer/Clerk of Court David W. Slayton said in a statement. "Despite that standard, I am proud the court was able to resume basic functionality in just five days and restore the court to full operations in just 11 days from the initial attack."

More details on the court's restored services are available at its Temporary Information Center, cloud.communications.lacourt.org/update.