CLEVELAND — The Ohio National Guard and Ohio Cyber Reserve are now responding to a cyber attack that shut down Cleveland Municipal Court.
The court’s systems and services are offline as a precaution while they investigate the nature and scope of the threat.
“Once we got here, we found out all the machines were down,” said Curtis Smith, Jr.
Smith said the timing was inconvenient. He and his partner were hoping to pay a citation Monday to restore her driver’s license before the couple welcomes a new baby.
“She’s currently three centimeters dilated,” he said. “We came from a doctor’s appointment this morning. So it’s been a busy morning for us.”
Others told News 5 they were frustrated after being turned away from paying bonds, making court appearances or retrieving paperwork.
“You waste your time, waste your money parking, all of that. And you come down here and they tell you ‘no,’” said Tomeeka Todd.
The Cleveland resident came to the clerk’s office to get documentation for a work license.
“I wanted to get it taken care of today because I took off work to come down here to do it,” she said.
On Sunday evening, Deputy Court Administrator Mike Negray announced the Municipal Court would be closed on Monday because of a “cyber incident.”
RELATED: Cleveland Municipal Court investigates cyber incident: Court closed Feb. 23
In a statement, he said all internal systems and software platforms would be offline while investigators focused on securing and restoring services safely.
Negray did not elaborate on the nature of the incident, but cyber security experts told News 5 it fits a familiar pattern.
“Attacks on really every organization are increasing. So it’s not just public entities,” said Alex Hamerstone, the advisory solutions director at Northeast Ohio-based cybersecurity company TrustedSec.
It’s the second cyber-related shutdown in Cleveland in less than a year.
Over the summer, a ransomware attack closed Cleveland City Hall for more than a week.
RELATED: Cleveland says it will not negotiate with cyberattackers
Monday, the city said it was too early to know whether the two incidents could be related.
Hamerstone said a similar ransomware attack is the likeliest scenario.
“These municipalities make a very attractive target because they generally have insurance and they really have to respond to these things. And they have a lot of data,” he explained.
News 5 asked court administrators Monday if any systems were still operational, if anyone’s information was compromised and how the court plans to communicate the shutdown status.
They have not elaborated on any of those details.
“We take cyber threats extremely seriously and are working expeditiously to
rectify the situation as soon as possible,” Negray’s Sunday evening statement said.
Some court visitors said they were told to call before stopping by the courthouse next. Others said clerks took their names and numbers down and would give them a call when things are back online.
Hamerstone explained cyber attacks could shut down operations for days, weeks or longer.
Visitors hope the situation is resolved quickly.
“We just filled out some paperwork and will wait for them to reach back out to us,” Smith said.
Todd added, “It’s disappointing to make the trip down here. And then it’s a hold-up because I have to revamp how I handle some things. But hopefully we can get it taken care of within the next week.”
The City of Cleveland said its systems have all been restored since the summertime cyber attack. A spokesperson told News 5 that several methods are now in place to minimize the city’s risk of attacks, and it will continue to monitor its systems for potential threats.
