“Unauthorized Incursion” leads Kansas Courts to Function on Paper for at least Two Weeks

Well, gather ’round folks! I’ve got a tale for you. I hope you’re comfortably settled with your cup of tea, because this one is a real humdinger. You know how we Brits always like a good chinwag about the latest news, so I’ve got something that may quite catch your fancy.

We’re heading over ‘across the pond’ to the quaint American state of Kansas – sweet as apple pie, they say. And yes, I know, we don’t usually chat about American stuff, but bear with me – there’s a lesson here for all of us, even us Brits!

Now imagine this: You’re a judge in Kansas, nose to the grindstone, processing hearings left, right and centre. Then, one morning, you turn on your computer and, ‘Cor Blimey!’, you find out it’s all gone pear-shaped. They’ve been hit with what they’re calling an “unauthorized incursion.” Fancy terminology, right? But hold your horses, we’ll get to what it means in a minute.

So, it turns out the whole legal shebang in Kansas has been essentially cyber attacked. Yes, folks, we’re talking about the brand-new, shiny statewide computer system that this dear American state had hailed as their pride. And now it’s apparently under siege – proper British-style Blitz, you could say, but in the internet realm!

The head cheese himself, Judge Phil Journey (quite the name, eh?), has announced that every last court in the state is knee-deep in papers leading a rather Dickensian life, if you catch my drift. The computers are down and they’re back to quills and parchment. Ok, not quite quills, but you get what I mean.

Now, here’s the clincher – the system’s expected to be down for at least two weeks. Yes, you heard it right – two whole weeks! Well, if that ain’t a predicament for the technologically inclined, I don’t know what is.

Of course, it’s all a bit ‘hush-hush’ over there in Kansas as to the reason. Some say ransomware – like a digital highwayman, holding your precious system hostage and demanding a king’s ransom for its safe return. However, that’s all more hearsay than fact at the moment – we Brits are good at sorting fact from fiction, so take it with a pinch of salt!

The point is, though, whoever orchestrated this cyber attack has caused a proper sticky wicket. It’s turned their entire court system topsy-turvy. Who’d have thought, eh, in this day and age, paperwork would be the knight in shining armour?

So let’s circle back ‘cross the Atlantic to our own green and pleasant land – the land of tea, crumpets, and increasingly digital healthcare system (eyes NHS). A casual chinwag about the Kansas kerfuffle turns out to be a timely reminder about the importance of top-notch cybersecurity. Whether you’re in court or caring for patients, the idea of everything going up the spout due to a cyber-attack is enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies. Let’s hope we keep our cybersecurity as tight as a drum and steer clear from such digital pickles.

So there you have it – a tale from the Wild West (or, the Midwest, if you fancy geographic accuracy) that gets us thinking about our own cybersecurity here in Blighty. Until next time, stay safe in the cyberworld out there. You never know when you might need your stack of papers to save the day!

by Parker Bytes