Cyber incident closed Cleveland Municipal Court for more than two weeks

Cleveland Municipal Court in Ohio closed to the public on Monday 24 February 2025 after detecting what officials described as a cyber incident over the preceding weekend. All internal systems, software platforms and the court's website were taken offline as a precaution while the nature and scope of the intrusion were assessed.

Court spokesman Ed Ferenc said response protocols were initiated immediately, containment measures were applied and an investigation was opened with the help of third party professionals. Deputy court administrator Mike Negray said officials were working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The building stayed open for essential staff, and jail inmates were still able to appear for bond hearings.

The shutdown ran well past the first week. The Record reported the court was still closed on its third consecutive day, with officials saying they had not confirmed the nature and scope of the incident and giving no reopening date. Comparitech later reported that the court reopened on 12 March 2025, about seventeen days after the attack, with some systems and the website still unavailable.

Officials did not attribute the attack at the time. The Qilin ransomware group subsequently claimed responsibility for an intrusion dated 23 February 2025. It was the second Cleveland government body disrupted within a year, following a June 2024 ransomware attack on City Hall that closed offices for more than a week.