Concrete example: The Maine Judicial Branch warned in an alert Thursday that requests for protective orders filed by email — urgent requests intended to protect parties from harm — may not have been received.
- Several court documents reviewed by Axios show attorneys requesting deadline extensions or alerting judges to the outage affecting their work.
- This includes DOJ lawyers: Government lawyers have requested an extension of the case brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) over President Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, saying the outage prevented them from “completely necessary coordination.”
- In a separate filing, Beatty’s team acknowledged that it had also been hit.
Zoom out: The impacts have also been felt in courtrooms and offices around the world.
- The AP reported that a criminal trial in the United Kingdom was delayed as a result, with a Manchester judge saying, according to the BBC report, “We are waking up to the dangers of relying on computers and data systems.”
- UK-based police forces also urged the public on Friday to call first aid for help, rather than using online forms.
- The Philippine Supreme Court said it was also affected by the outage.
What they say: “We obviously need backup methods to keep the wheels of justice turning,” says Gissou Nia, founder and director of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project.
- She pointed to an earlier incident that foreshadowed international reliance on U.S. technology: Although not exposed by an outage, the Trump administration’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court prompted the Netherlands-based court to abandon Microsoft software to prevent its work from being crippled.
While legal delays may be postponed, the interruption of services for people seeking an urgent injunction is more critical, she notes.
- “If the only way to communicate… is through these servers, and the request hasn’t been met, that could lead to someone leaving the country or withdrawing money from an account,” Nia says.
Reality check: Shay Cleary, a consultant with the National Center for State Courts specializing in technology and cybersecurity, points out that courts typically have manual backup plans.
- “Many people who work in the courts are dedicated public servants and know how to do things well,” he adds.
With the resumption of sessions of Congress, Hill’s communications were also left on hold Thursday — with one staffer writing on »
- Municipal governments in Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, among others, warned that their emails — and in some cases, their phone systems — were affected.
What we’re looking at: A page providing updates on Microsoft’s suite of technology tools said in a Friday morning post that it was seeing “encouraging recovery progress.”
- The statement came about 22 hours after the page first said the company was investigating reports of email access issues.
The bottom line: The very tools that connect us digitally can also divide us when things go wrong, underscoring the importance of preparing old-fashioned backup plans to fill in the gaps.
Go further: The hidden nightmare of internet security – and how AI exposed it
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