Orange County District Attorney shut down IT systems after a cyberattack

The Orange County District Attorney's Office in California disclosed on October 23, 2023 that intruders had reached part of its information technology network. Officials said monitoring tools flagged a possible breach on the previous Friday and that the office shut the affected systems down the same day to stop the intrusion from spreading further.

Prosecutors said the shutdown isolated network communications while preserving the county's criminal justice functions, and that staff worked around the clock to keep critical services and functions running. The office engaged a third party expert to identify vulnerabilities and establish how the attackers got in.

District Attorney Todd Spitzer's office said it was coordinating with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office to identify those responsible. Officials told reporters that no ransom demand had been received and no malware had been identified at that stage, and that determining what data may have been accessed could take another week or two. The office holds highly sensitive material, including DNA profiles, witness information and criminal case files.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department suspended its own IT and email connection to the district attorney's office as a precaution. A sheriff's spokesperson said a forensic review was under way and there was no apparent evidence that sheriff's systems had been affected. A 2021 county audit had previously flagged three critical and five significant weaknesses in the district attorney's cybersecurity controls, some of which were still being addressed as of a February 2023 follow up.