US federal court work hit after BAE Systems cyberattack affects bankruptcy court systems

Posted
  • Cyberattack on BAE Systems disrupted the US Bankruptcy Noticing Center and halted bankruptcy notice distribution
  • Multiple judiciary-related services and websites were temporarily taken offline during the incident
  • Authorities and BAE are investigating the attack, with no details yet on data exposure or attribution

BAE Systems recently suffered a cyberattack which disrupted the US Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC), a service that sends official notes and orders from US federal bankruptcy courts.

The incident meant that the production and distribution of bankruptcy notices was temporarily paused until the issue was resolved.

“BAE Systems IT and websites that support the operations of the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) have been impacted by a cybersecurity incident,” a notice on the US Federal Courts website reads. “The BNC produces and transmits bankruptcy notices for all federal bankruptcy courts around the country, and BAE Systems operates BNC systems and websites on behalf of the Federal Judiciary.”

Looking into the matter

The Administrative Office of the US Courts (AOUSC) is coordinating with impacting courts, it was said, as well as with BAE Systems which is now “actively investigating” the incident and working to restore operations.

“As a result of the incident, all access to the BNC systems and websites that BAE operates on behalf of the judiciary and the related bankruptcy noticing process are unavailable at this time, including bnc.uscourts.gov, bankruptcynotices.uscourts.gov, notices.uscourts.gov, and the National Creditor Registration Service,” the notice reads. “The incident has also halted the BNC’s production and distribution of bankruptcy notices for bankruptcy courts.”

There is no official confirmation, or clarification, on the company’s website for now, but in a statement given to BleepingComputer, BAE Systems said it was investigating the matter.

"We are aware of a security incident that is isolated to the BNC system and have taken immediate steps to address it. We are coordinating closely with AOUSC on the response," the statement reads.

BAE Systems is one of the largest defense, aerospace, and security companies in the world. It is headquartered in London, UK, and works on military equipment, weapons, advanced electronics, and cybersecurity systems for governments and the military.

Among other things, BAE Systems works on the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, different armored combat vehicles, naval ships, radars and sensors, and different intelligence analysis and digital security services. The company reported approximately $40.91 billion in sales for 2025 and employs more than 111,000 people worldwide.

Woes of US courts

It seems that every few months, news emerges of a new breach or cyberattack at one of the US court systems.

Most recently, it was reported that the Arizona Supreme Court suffered a cyberattack in which it lost sensitive data on more than a million people. In this incident, an employee allegedly clicked a malicious link in an email, which led to the compromise of information on 1.3 million people with unpaid court fees, fines and restitution payments for traffic and criminal violations dating back 30 years.

The threat actors also stole almost 30,000 active and inactive orders of protection, as well as 150,000 reports dating back to 2010 from a foster care board making recommendations in cases where parents were allegedly unable or unfit to care for a child.

In September 2026, Thomson Reuters, the IT company behind the Reuters news agency, reported suffering a breach a few months prior, and exposing certain court documents to the attackers. The company operates a court case-management system called C-Track which was broken into in March 2026.

Earlier still, in August 2026, the US Judiciary system confirmed experiencing an “escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature.” in which the threat actors targeted the case management system.

“The vast majority of documents filed with the Judiciary’s electronic case management system are not confidential and indeed are readily available to the public, which is fundamental to an open and transparent judicial system. However, some filings contain confidential or proprietary information that are sealed from public view,” the announcement said.

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