computer screen with binary code and the shadow of a hand reaching out Photo: Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock.com

When the Texas Supreme Court's website went down just before it normally releases orders and opinions last week, clerks turned to Twitter for help.

Clerk of the Court Blake Hawthorne tweeted that his office would release the list on Twitter, and he included a Dropbox link for people to read the full opinions.

But it's now becoming clear that the reason the high court's website was down is because the Texas judiciary was hacked by a ransomware attack, the Texas Office of Court Administration disclosed Monday.

"OCA was able to catch the ransomware and limit its impact and will not pay any ransom," the statement said. "Work continues to bring all judicial branch resources and entities back online."

The attack started overnight May 8, and court officials detected it early in the morning, the statement said. It had nothing to do with the courts' utilizing remote hearings during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

When the administrative office discovered the breach, staff disabled the branch network, websites and servers to prevent more harm. The network is still disabled now, the statement said, and will only come back online when the breach is remediated.

To investigate the breach, the office has been working with law enforcement and the Texas Department of Information Resources, which is also helping the office to recover.

The office has established a temporary website to continue displaying critical information, such as COVID-19 response information.

Many of the information technology functions that the office provides for the judiciary were not impacted by the attack. This includes eFileTexas, which lawyers use for e-filing, and re:SearchTX, which the public uses to access court records, the statement said.

"At this time, there is no indication that any sensitive information, including personal information, was compromised," the statement said. "Individual trial court networks throughout the state were unaffected by the cyberattack."

Click here to read the full statement.