Bankruptcy Noticing Center Offline: BAE Cyber Breach Blocks Court Communications Since Oct 9
A security breach at BAE Systems has disabled the federal bankruptcy noticing system, stopping official court communications since October 9.
Key points
- The Bankruptcy Noticing Center has been offline since October 9 due to a cyber incident at contractor BAE Systems.
- Federal courts cannot generate or distribute notices to creditors, attorneys, or other parties in bankruptcy cases.
- Electronic filing for new cases continues, but the National Creditor Registration Service is unavailable.
Federal bankruptcy courts across the United States have been unable to send official notices for one week because of a cybersecurity incident at BAE Systems. The disruption began on October 9 and affects the Bankruptcy Noticing Center, which handles critical communications for every federal bankruptcy case in the country. This outage prevents the judiciary from notifying creditors, attorneys, and other stakeholders about case developments, deadlines, and court orders.
BAE Systems Inc., the US subsidiary of the British defense contractor, operates the Bankruptcy Noticing Center on behalf of the federal judiciary. According to Security Affairs, the incident has taken the center offline, halting the production and distribution of all bankruptcy notices. The Administrative Office of the US Courts confirmed that several online services supporting federal bankruptcy systems went dark following the breach involving the court contractor. Reuters reported that the judiciary issued statements regarding the widespread service interruption.
System Impact and Scope
The outage affects multiple key domains and services essential to bankruptcy proceedings. According to the official judiciary statement, access to bnc.uscourts.gov, bankruptcynotices.uscourts.gov, and notices.uscourts.gov is unavailable. The National Creditor Registration Service is also down, which prevents attorneys using the electronic filing system from generating the creditor mailing lists they normally need to serve documents. This means that while courts can still accept new case filings, the pipeline for notifying interested parties is completely blocked.
Who Is Affected
Creditors, debtors, and attorneys involved in federal bankruptcy cases are directly impacted by this disruption. They are not receiving official notices, messages, or deadline notifications that keep them informed about case status. This is not a minor service glitch; the entire notification system used by federal bankruptcy courts is nonfunctional. Attorneys cannot generate necessary mailing lists, and creditors may miss critical deadlines or updates because the central noticing mechanism is offline.
Our take on the response
The federal judiciary has acknowledged the incident and confirmed that all access to BAE-operated systems is unavailable. Courts are still accepting new filings, and electronic notifications to registered attorneys who are already in the system may still go out, but anything tied to the noticing pipeline is dark. The situation suggests a significant operational halt for the administrative side of bankruptcy law, with no confirmed fix or timeline for full restoration yet.
For customers and users
If you are involved in a bankruptcy case, check your email and court portals manually for updates, as automated notices are delayed. Monitor your case status directly through court websites if possible, and contact your attorney if you have not received expected communications. Be alert for phishing attempts that exploit this outage, as scammers may pose as court officials or creditors to extract sensitive information. Verify any urgent requests through official channels before acting.
What to do and how to stay safe: BAE Systems
- Manually check court dockets and case filings for any new developments or deadlines.
- Contact your legal representative to confirm if they have received any official notices.
- Verify the identity of anyone claiming to be a court official or creditor before sharing information.
- Monitor your email for suspicious messages that may exploit the service disruption.
Step-by-step guide: Data Brokers Examples: How They Collect and Sell Your Personal Info
General security guidance from the DataSafe Radar newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
When did the bankruptcy noticing system go offline?
The Bankruptcy Noticing Center has been offline since October 9 due to a cybersecurity incident.
Are federal bankruptcy courts still accepting new case filings?
Yes, courts are still accepting new case filings and electronic notifications to registered attorneys are still going out.
Which specific services are affected by the BAE Systems incident?
Affected services include bnc.uscourts.gov, bankruptcynotices.uscourts.gov, notices.uscourts.gov, and the National Creditor Registration Service.
