Pennsylvania Chief Justice Debra Todd announced Sunday night that a portion of the Pennsylvania State Court’s website is unavailable because of a denial of service cyberattack.

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) defines a denial of service attack as when users cannot access their online information systems or network resources because of “malicious actors flooding the targeted host or network with traffic until the target cannot respond or simply crashes.”

In the announcement, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts did not disclose the attacker’s motive or identity.

In the press release, Todd stated, “Our court information technology and executive team is working closely with law enforcement including the CISA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I to investigate the incident.”

The attack impacted the court’s online docket and web services, including the PAePay system that allows people to pay online court citations. At this time, web services will have to be conducted in person.

This is not the only government body to experience a cyberattack in recent years. In August 2023, the UK Electoral Commission said that it fell victim to a cyberattack and that “hostile actors” were able to access copies of the electoral register, with the name and address of anyone registered to vote between 2014 and 2022. Additionally, in December 2023, a report from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security found that cyberattacks targeting elections are increasing worldwide and are now more likely to be seen during Canada’s next ballot.