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Judiciary Addresses Cybersecurity Breach

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (the “AO”) has provided notice of a national data breach of the CM/ECF system and has called upon courts to implement new security procedures to protect highly sensitive documents. Because MLBR 9018-1 already provides comprehensive procedures for the filing and storage of sealed documents outside the CM/ECF system, the Court has preliminarily concluded that no changes are required to the local rules. Additionally, in accord with guidance from the AO and practices of other courts, the Court does not intend to review its dockets to determine if filings under seal contain “highly sensitive documents.” The Court will continue to monitor and evaluate ongoing developments around these issues for impact on its systems and CM/ECF users. We will update this information as we receive further guidance and direction from the AO on this matter. If a party believes that highly sensitive documents have been filed “under seal” using the CM/ECF system (rather than the procedures set out in MLBR 9018-1), that party may file a motion seeking removal of that information from the CM/ECF system. Please contact the Court at (617)748-5300 should you have any questions.