Chief Justice John Roberts needs to order an independent review of federal court cybersecurity, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Monday.
Wyden called for the independent review in a letter to Roberts a week after Bloomberg News reported Russian hackers infiltrated U.S. courts' record system for multiple years.
Two weeks week earlier, Politico reported the electronic case filing system used by the federal judiciary was breached in a sweeping cyberintrusion that was believed to have exposed sensitive court data across multiple U.S. states.
That attack mirrored a significant breach into the court filing system in 2020, Politico added.
"The federal judiciary's current approach to information technology is a severe threat to our national security," Wyden wrote in his letter to Roberts. "The courts have been entrusted with some of our nation's most confidential and sensitive information, including national security documents that could reveal sources and methods to our adversaries, and sealed criminal charging and investigative documents that could enable suspects to flee from justice or target witnesses. Yet, you continue to refuse to require the federal courts to meet mandatory cybersecurity requirements and allow them to routinely ignore basic cybersecurity best practices."
Wyden told Roberts that the federal judicial technology and cybersecurity policy is set by a committee of judges whose membership "you have kept hidden from the public and who presumably have no technology expertise."
The senator labeled the case management system "insecure, antiquated, and expensive to operate."
"These serious problems in the judiciary's approach to cybersecurity have been able to fester for decades because the judiciary covers up its own negligence, has no inspector general and repeatedly stonewalls congressional oversight. This status quo cannot continue," Wyden wrote to Roberts.
Wyden also blasted the judiciary system for waiting until two months ago to announce it would begin requiring multifactor authentication — a cybersecurity measure that has been required by executive branch agencies since 2015.
Wyden urged Roberts to rely on the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a review of the hacks.
The senator sent a separate letter to Roslynn R. Mauskopf, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, asking that a list of questions be answered.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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