NSW Attorney-General Cautions Domestic Violence Victims About Court Data Breach

A staggering 9,000 court documents may have been compromised in a major data breach with the potential to impact victims of domestic violence, including children, compelling attorney-general Michael Daley to urge anyone who feels their safety has been threatened to immediately contact police.

Among the documents affected by the breach are apprehended violence orders and affidavits. Documents may include sensitive information including names and addresses, as well as allegations revealed in the affidavits themselves.

Daley said that the Department of Communities and Justice would “proactively” contact affected account holders “and advise them of what has happened and what the next steps should be.”

“We don’t know what they’ve done with the data yet, we just know that there’s 9,000 files that appear somehow to have been accessed.”

Nothing of the documents had appeared online, including on the clandestine dark web.

Daley estimated it would take the police “about a week” to identify the hacker. Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Smith of the NSW Police Cybercrime Squad said anyone with safety concerns should contact police.

Anyone who thinks their details may have been breached has also been urged to report it using the ReportCyber website operated by the Commonwealth Government.

Breach detected during “routine maintenance”

Police were alerted about the breach on Tuesday 25 March, after it was detected by the Department of Communities and Justice the week prior.

It impacted the NSW Online Registry, which provides access to case information and relevant documents. It is supposed to be secure, with users needing to register by providing identification before they can access the registry.

According to Daley, the hacker gained access through the account of a registered user before it was suspended by staff. The system is now secure.

A police spokesperson said on Thursday that investigations into the “major data breach” were underway.

“Cybercrime detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Pardey and are working closely with DCJ in order to contain the breach after approximately 9,000 sensitive court files, including apprehended violence orders and affidavits, were downloaded,” the spokesperson said at the time.

Daley said the government was taking the incident seriously, and that the Department of Communities and Justice was collaborating with police to ensure the registry’s security.

“They are also working to urgently identify and contact affected users and the public will be kept updated as more information becomes available.”