Cyber-attack on NYC Law Department

An intrusion into the IT system of the New York City Law Department is being co-investigated by the New York Police Department and the FBI’s Cyber Task Force.

The hack was first reported by The Daily News, which learned that sensitive information belonging to more than a thousand department employees may have been exposed in the security incident.

After discovering the intrusion, the city restricted admission to the system, preventing government lawyers from accessing documents. 

On June 7, the city government confirmed that it was examining “unauthorized access within the NYC Law Department’s IT environment.”

In a statement released Monday, Laura Feyer, a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio, told The Daily News that “the City’s Cyber Command” had “promptly launched an investigation into the matter.”

Feyer added: “As the investigation remains ongoing, the City has taken additional steps to maintain security, including limiting access to the Law Department’s network at this time.”

The New York City Law Department is staffed by approximately 1,000 lawyers and 890 support professionals. 

Mayor de Blasio said last night that investigators were yet to find any evidence that data belonging to the Law Department had been “compromised” in the attack.

“We’re still tracking down exactly who was behind it,” he told NY1. “So far, we believe the defenses have held.”

News of the intrusion came to light on Monday morning when The Daily News discovered that a city lawyer had cited technical problems when a filing a request to extend a case due to be heard in Manhattan federal court by one week. 

“The Law Department has been experiencing a connectivity issue since yesterday, and, as a result, no one is currently able to log on to the Law Department’s computer system,” city attorney Katherine Weall wrote to Judge P. Kevin Castel.

“I am therefore unable to access and file the answer I have drafted in this case, which is due today,” she added.

Nicholas Paolucci, a Law Department spokesperson, said the agency was taking steps “to ensure there was minimal impact to cases.”

The incident comes just days after Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials revealed that at least three of the agency’s 18 database systems had been accessed by hackers.