Courts handle vast amounts of sensitive data such as personal identifiers, financial records, health information, and confidential case details. With data spread across multiple platforms, including case management systems, email, and cloud services, comprehensive protection is difficult.

Cybercriminals and nation-state actors have taken notice, aiming increasingly targeted and sophisticated assaults at the courts. This can disrupt court operations for extended periods and result in millions of dollars in losses. State and Local Courts Struggle to Fight Increasing Cyberattacks | State Court Report

A prolonged cyberattack on the courts affects more than just daily operations: It can significantly disrupt the lives of the public, law enforcement, attorneys, and court staff. When court records are inaccessible, trials may be delayed. Police and prosecutors might lose access to critical criminal history information. The issuance of protection orders can be postponed, leaving victims at greater risk. And background checks may be slowed, causing setbacks for new employees awaiting clearance.

Many courts still rely on outdated technology, making them vulnerable to modern cyber threats. Budget constraints and lack of dedicated cybersecurity staff exacerbate the problem, leaving courts ill-prepared for sophisticated attacks.

This case study highlights the challenges faced by a court system handling nearly 900,000 cases annually across more than 100 counties, the solutions applied to transition to a proactive and resilient cybersecurity strategy, and the outcomes this cybersecurity partnership achieved to help manage sensitive legal data.

Learn how Avertium and the court system partnered to apply outsourced cybersecurity services to address these challenges using an Assess, Design, Protect approach:

  • The "Assess" phase involved conducting a gap assessment and implementing the CIS IG1 framework.
  • The "Design" phase guided the courts through a migration to the Microsoft unified SecOps platform, including tools like Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender and Azure.
  • The "Protect" phase focused on continuous 24/7/365 monitoring and management of the court system’s security tools through Avertium’s managed services.

This partnership improved preparedness, created a proactive cybersecurity strategy, and promoted a security and compliance forward culture.

Get the case study to learn more!
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