CYBER INTRUDERS MAY HAVE ACCESSED SEALED FEDERAL INDICTMENTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS

There are multiple reports that foreign hackers have penetrated the Federal electronic case access system known to most legal professionals as PACER, for Public Access to Court Electronic Records, as well as the case management and filing system known as CM/ECF. this means that extremely sensitive court filings, which include sealed indictments of Federal fugitives, information that identifies Confidential Informants, and arrest and search warrants, could have been extracted by criminal elements.

Sealed Indictments of Federal fugitives, who are not in US custody, and many of whom are outside the United States, are non-public for a reason: to keep the targets from learning about pending charges, which information may cause them to flee to avoid apprehension. seeking to move to a non-extraditable jurisdiction. That information may also cause them to suspect Confidential Informants of being the source of incriminating information, and place them in grave physical danger. Other sealed filings could supply important clues to targets about the progress of pending investigations which they could act upon, to cheat justice. Foreign criminal organizations with access could modify their activities, assassinate witnesses, destroy evidence, and foil effective international investigations with this material.

The Federal filing system, which is said to be outdated and in sore need of replacement, has been the subject of repeated requests that it be replaced. Apparently, there have been multiple breaches, which have been disclosed to the Federal judiciary, but not acknowledged to the public. Individuals who have been Confidential Informants in Federal criminal cases should govern themselves accordingly.