Kansas court system down nearly 2 weeks in ‘security incident’ that has hallmarks of ransomware

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are calling a massive computer outage that’s kept most of the state’s courts offline for two weeks a “security incident.” While authorities have provided no explanation as of Wednesday, experts say it bears all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack. The disruption has left attorneys unable to search online records and forced them to file motions on paper. Courts are limping along, and growing piles of paper documents will have to be scanned eventually. Judicial branch spokesperson Lisa Taylor declined to answer questions including  whether there’s been a demand for a ransom or when the systems will be back up.