A cybersecurity incident at defence contractor BAE Systems has knocked out the system that sends official notices for every federal bankruptcy court in the United States. The disruption has been affecting courts since around 9 October, and the federal judiciary confirmed the cause on 15 October.
The courts have not said what kind of attack it was, or whether any data was stolen.
What the courts said
In a statement from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary said: “BAE Systems IT and websites that support the operations of the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) have been impacted by a cybersecurity incident.”
The statement explains that “the BNC produces and transmits bankruptcy notices for all federal bankruptcy courts around the country, and BAE Systems operates BNC systems and websites on behalf of the Federal Judiciary.”
It goes on: “The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has been in communication with the impacted courts and is also coordinating with BAE Systems. BAE is actively investigating this incident and working to restore operations.”
What is down
According to the statement, “all access to the BNC systems and websites that BAE operates on behalf of the judiciary and the related bankruptcy noticing process are unavailable at this time, including bnc.uscourts.gov, bankruptcynotices.uscourts.gov, notices.uscourts.gov, and the National Creditor Registration Service.”
“The incident has also halted the BNC’s production and distribution of bankruptcy notices for bankruptcy courts,” it says.
Bankruptcy notices tell creditors, debtors and others about important events in a case, such as filings, meetings and deadlines. If they cannot be sent, people may not learn about steps that affect their money or rights.
When it began
The judiciary’s statement was published on 15 October, but local courts had been reporting problems for several days. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio said in a notice dated 13 October that “on October 9, 2026, the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC), responsible for service of Court notices and orders (Notices), reported a nationwide service disruption.”
That court said “Court Notices entered on or after October 7, 2026, appear to be affected,” and warned that “the interruption may take multiple days to resolve.” It also said: “The BNC disruption does not affect the delivery of a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by CM/ECF,” the courts’ electronic case filing system, so registered participants in a case still receive electronic notices.
What BAE Systems said
A BAE Systems spokesperson told The Record, published by Recorded Future News, that the company is “aware of a security incident that is isolated to the BNC system and have taken immediate steps to address it.”
“We are coordinating closely with [the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts] on the response,” the spokesperson added.
The Record reported that the Administrative Office “did not respond to requests for further details about the nature of the incident or whether data was stolen.” The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency directed the publication to the U.S. Courts, and the FBI did not respond, The Record said.
Why a contractor matters
The incident is a reminder that government services often depend on private contractors. The Record describes BAE Systems, a British multinational, as one of the largest defence contractors in the world. Here, an incident that BAE says is isolated to the system it runs has stopped a nationwide court service.
What people with bankruptcy cases should do
The judiciary has not issued national guidance for case participants. The Southern District of Ohio notice explains how attorneys can produce creditor lists through CM/ECF while the service is down. Anyone involved in a case should check their own court’s website for local updates and contact the clerk’s office if unsure about a deadline.
What’s still unknown
The courts have not confirmed the type of attack, whether any personal or case data was accessed or stolen, or when the service will be restored.
What to watch
Watch for updates from the Administrative Office on restoring service, any statement on data exposure, and orders from individual courts adjusting deadlines.
What this means
- National disruption. Every federal bankruptcy court relies on the affected notice system.
- Not just since 15 October. Courts report the disruption from about 9 October.
- Key facts unconfirmed. Data theft and the type of attack have not been confirmed.
Sources
- Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, “Cybersecurity Incident Disrupting Bankruptcy Court Operations”, 15 October 2026
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio, “Bankruptcy Noticing Center Service Disruption”, 13 October 2026
- The Record (Jonathan Greig), “Federal bankruptcy courts dealing with outages after contractor cyberattack”, 15 October 2026
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