Threat watch / Attack
Seminole County Clerk: intrusion shuts the Florida court clerk's systems, records viewed
The Seminole County Clerk of Court and Comptroller in Florida found an intrusion into its systems on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, turned off the internet and all systems, and closed its offices to the public. Clerk Grant Maloy says nothing was encrypted and the hackers made no demands. On November 13 he said the hackers accessed files including property and marriage records, already public on the clerk's website, and that the office is still checking whether confidential information was breached.
- Sector
- Government & politics
- Way in
- Not public yet
- Product or vendor
- None named
- How it happened
- An intrusion into the clerk's system, discovered on Wednesday at 5 p.m., according to the clerk. He says it was not ransomware and nothing was encrypted. How the hackers got in has not been made public.[1][2] Checked 14 Nov 2026
- What was stolen
- Files including property and marriage records, which are already public on the clerk's website, according to the clerk. "We're still analyzing exactly what they got and to what servers," he said on November 9; whether confidential information was breached is still being determined.[2][3] Checked 14 Nov 2026
- Who was impacted
- The clerk's office and the public it serves: offices closed, the courts website taken offline, deadlines and payments extended. The office says it will notify anyone whose confidential information was affected; no number is given.[1][3] Checked 14 Nov 2026
- Threat actor
- Not attributed. Suspected Russian hackers, according to the clerk, who says federal authorities suspect them and calls the attack AI-assisted. He did not name the agency, and the FBI declined to comment.
Timeline
- The clerk's office discovers an intrusion at 5 p.m. and turns off the internet and all systems, according to Clerk Grant Maloy. [1][3]
- The offices are closed to the public. "So the system itself was not ransomware. It was not locked down by a bad guy," Maloy says. [1]
- Maloy says the office is 100% operational but online services are still being restored, which could take another two weeks. "We know they got into the system. They probably saw records," he says. The incident was reported to the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. [2]
- Maloy says federal authorities suspect Russian hackers, that the hackers never made demands but repeatedly urged the office to contact them, and that the public court records search was restored on Thursday. The sheriff's office says the investigation was referred to the FBI, which declined to comment. [3]