Cyberattack on Arizona Courts Copies Data of 1.3 Million People

A phishing email clicked by an Arizona court employee is believed to have enabled a Sept. 24 cyberattack that copied personal information tied to about 1.3 million people with unpaid court debts, along with nearly 30,000 protection-order records and more than 150,000 foster-care reports. The court detected and stopped the intrusion on a backup server about two hours later; officials say they have identified at least 99% of what was downloaded, and that some records—particularly FARE and protection-order data—would need to be decoded, while foster-care reports may contain children’s names and case recommendations. Officials say there is no evidence the information has been used or shared, and no court records were altered or cases delayed, though the breach is under investigation and has raised concerns about the privacy of people seeking protection.