The Administrative Office of the United States Courts
announced new security procedures to protect
confidential filings on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. The changes
come in the wake of a massive cybersecurity breach identified in
December 2020. The breach involved a known compromise of
third-party provider products, and has affected a number of federal
agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Commerce, State, and
Treasury. The Judiciary uses an impacted product for IT network
monitoring and management and; consequently, its online filing
system has been jeopardized.
In response to an emergency directive from the Department of
Homeland Security, the Judiciary has suspended all national and
local use of the Case Management/Electronic Case Files System
(“CM/ECF”) with respect to highly sensitive documents
(“HSDs”). Under the new procedure, HSDs filed in
federal court will be accepted for filing only in paper form or via
a secure electronic device, such as a USB
