Colorado public defender’s office disrupted by cyberattack

Operations at the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender have been limited following a cyberattack that had been ongoing on the morning of Feb. 9, which has prompted the takedown of its computer network, reports The Denver Post. Such a disruption, which has prevented access to work computers, court dockets, and court filings, is expected to be resolved in a week, according to office spokesperson James Karbach, who noted that some of the system's data were malware-encrypted but emphasized that the intrusion did not affect the state's court system. Despite scant details regarding the incident, Colorado's state public defender's office is believed by Metropolitan State University of Denver Computer Sciences Department Chair Steve Beaty to have been affected by a ransomware attack. Meanwhile, National Cybersecurity Center Chief Strategy Officer Mark Weatherford noted the mounting incidence of ransomware attacks against government agencies. "The privacy and sensitive information of all their clients is what I would be most concerned about right now," Weatherford said.