The Wyoming Judicial Branch’s former operating system fell prey to a hack that could have lifted personal data about people involved in court cases from 2015-2025, the branch’s communications director says.
The Wyoming Judicial Branch first learned about the breach in mid-to-late July but then had to discern its scope and what data may have been impacted, branch communications director Jacob Just told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday phone interview.
West Publishing Corporation, which used to run the case management systems for the Wyoming Supreme Court and the state’s district-level courts but was replaced recently, suffered a cybersecurity breach that compromised names, addresses and dates of birth, according to a statement by Just coupled with his interview.
The state Supreme Court hears appeals. The district court hears appeals from lower courts, divorces, felonies, civil cases involving more than $50,000, juvenile matters and probate cases.
“To the best of our knowledge, no documents were compromised,” the statement says. The judicial branch is still reviewing information and working with the vendor and law enforcement to assess the impact and guide future action, it adds.
“The WJB has been assured that no evidence exists that the breach has led to any misuse of personal information,” says the statement.
Happened In March, Discovered In June
Wyoming was not alone.
A Wednesday statement by the West Publishing Corporation’s subsidiary C-Track also lists compromises affecting courts in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Ohio, multiple appeals courts and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
C-Track’s statement says the company notified people through the website and a media notice, and is [CTrackNotification.com]providing people whose personal information might have been involved with 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring and identity-theft protection services.
C-Track’s statement says it discovered “unauthorized activity by a third party” on June 30.
It “promptly” launched an investigation that included experts and law enforcement and “immediately took steps to contain the activity and secure its environment,” the statement says. It adds that C-Track has “undertaken significant mitigation” to minimize risks of fraud or misuse.
The unauthorized party gained access in March – three months before the discovery, says the statement.
The company’s statement says the compromised information could also include medical and health insurance information, as well as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
Just said in his interview that for Wyoming, “based on what we know so far,” the breach has been limited to names, addresses and dates of birth.
Just emphasized that none of the systems in use in the Wyoming Judicial Branch were impacted, and its technology infrastructure is secure.
“We remain confident and we encourage people to be confident in the court’s systems and technology infrastructure,” he said.
Sign Of The Times
Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen called the breach, “a sign of the times that we live in.”
“Technology can be very good at times and I think it can be very bad at times,” Itzen continued. “Right now you’re seeing probably one of the worst outcomes.”
The Wyoming Judicial Branch’s statement says anyone who believes they have been affected by the breach is should visit its webpage or call 1-833-918-5294 toll-free, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. Mountain Time (excluding major U.S. holidays) for help.
“If you have a speech or hearing impairment and use a TTY, please call 711,” the statement says. “Be prepared to provide engagement number B171847.”
The statement says the Judicial Branch will provide more information as it becomes available.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
