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Vulnerabilities in government systems call into question the security of personal data and classified documents.
Recently, new vulnerabilities have been discovered on platforms that government agencies and courts use to manage confidential records and documents. Problems give attackers access to sensitive information, make changes to legal documents, and compromise personal data.
Such platforms play a key role in litigation and government work, processing cases and public records. The bugs found can be easily exploited even with minimal technical skills, which indicates the weakness of systems that must protect the most important data.
The problem is relevant for many structures responsible for public services. For example, in the state of Georgia, the voter registration portal contained a flaw: it was enough to know a person's name and date of birth for a hacker to cancel voter registration.
The main source of the problem is weak access control and insufficient verification of user data. Many platforms use predictable identifiers or allow data to be altered, giving cybercriminals access to sensitive information.
Another example is the Granicus GovQA platform, which is used to manage government records. Here, attackers could reset passwords without identity verification, as well as gain access to names and email addresses by simply changing web addresses. The attack allows you to seize accounts, change the ownership of documents, and block legitimate users.
Thomson Reuters' C-Track eFiling system allowed hackers to upgrade their status to administrator by changing certain details during registration. Such a mechanism opened up access to confidential information and the ability to change court documents.
In several Florida counties, lax access controls allowed attackers to guess document IDs or change session cookies, gaining access to limited court records, including sealed documents, psychological reports, and witness lists — data that must be protected.
In another case, the eFiling system of the Maricopa County, Arizona court allowed the exploitation of API vulnerabilities and access to restricted court documents, also guessing user IDs. Catalis EZ-Filing systems in Georgia and South Carolina allowed for the extraction of personal information as well as access to sensitive documents.
In Granicus eFiling, attackers could register as administrators and change owners of legal documents, gaining full control over court cases.
Such deficiencies undermine trust in the entities responsible for managing the most sensitive data. Experts note that to solve the problem, it is necessary not just to fix, but to fundamentally revise security measures. Tight access control and user data verification, regular security audits, and penetration testing are required. Adherence to the Secure by Design security principle should be mandatory at all stages of program development.
It is also important to implement multi-factor authentication, which will make it more difficult to hijack accounts, and the IT team should be regularly trained in modern security techniques. Users should also be aware of the risks of attacks.
Source
Recently, new vulnerabilities have been discovered on platforms that government agencies and courts use to manage confidential records and documents. Problems give attackers access to sensitive information, make changes to legal documents, and compromise personal data.
Such platforms play a key role in litigation and government work, processing cases and public records. The bugs found can be easily exploited even with minimal technical skills, which indicates the weakness of systems that must protect the most important data.
The problem is relevant for many structures responsible for public services. For example, in the state of Georgia, the voter registration portal contained a flaw: it was enough to know a person's name and date of birth for a hacker to cancel voter registration.
The main source of the problem is weak access control and insufficient verification of user data. Many platforms use predictable identifiers or allow data to be altered, giving cybercriminals access to sensitive information.
Another example is the Granicus GovQA platform, which is used to manage government records. Here, attackers could reset passwords without identity verification, as well as gain access to names and email addresses by simply changing web addresses. The attack allows you to seize accounts, change the ownership of documents, and block legitimate users.
Thomson Reuters' C-Track eFiling system allowed hackers to upgrade their status to administrator by changing certain details during registration. Such a mechanism opened up access to confidential information and the ability to change court documents.
In several Florida counties, lax access controls allowed attackers to guess document IDs or change session cookies, gaining access to limited court records, including sealed documents, psychological reports, and witness lists — data that must be protected.
In another case, the eFiling system of the Maricopa County, Arizona court allowed the exploitation of API vulnerabilities and access to restricted court documents, also guessing user IDs. Catalis EZ-Filing systems in Georgia and South Carolina allowed for the extraction of personal information as well as access to sensitive documents.
In Granicus eFiling, attackers could register as administrators and change owners of legal documents, gaining full control over court cases.
Such deficiencies undermine trust in the entities responsible for managing the most sensitive data. Experts note that to solve the problem, it is necessary not just to fix, but to fundamentally revise security measures. Tight access control and user data verification, regular security audits, and penetration testing are required. Adherence to the Secure by Design security principle should be mandatory at all stages of program development.
It is also important to implement multi-factor authentication, which will make it more difficult to hijack accounts, and the IT team should be regularly trained in modern security techniques. Users should also be aware of the risks of attacks.
Source
