PHOENIX — Confidential Foster Care Review Board recommendation reports were among more than 270,000 court records stolen in a phishing-driven cyberattack on Arizona’s state court system, court officials told AZFamily in reporting published late Tuesday and updated into Wednesday’s news cycle.
Officials said the intrusion began after a state court employee clicked a malicious link in a phishing email. More than 150,000 foster-care-related reports dating back to 2010 are now in hackers’ hands, according to the AZFamily account. A court spokesperson said the compromised reports do not include addresses or phone numbers but do contain names, statements, findings, and court and Department of Child Safety recommendations about children and parents.
Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer called it “outrageous and distressing” that people who come to courts for help could be “re-victimized” through a data breach. She said IT staff detected and stopped the intrusion within about two hours. Mesa foster parent Anika Robinson told AZFamily she was horrified private child-welfare information could be used to cause harm and said she had not been notified by court officials.
Court leaders said the cyberattack did not include information on jurors, witnesses, or court employees. The FBI is investigating attribution and motive. AZPoint, Arizona’s protective-order website, was not compromised and remains safe to use, officials said — an important clarification for domestic-violence survivors already alarmed by earlier reporting that protective-order data was among materials copied in the broader breach.
This article focuses on the newly detailed foster-care exposure rather than repeating the initial Sept. 25 court alert alone. Combined with prior AZFamily and FOX 10 coverage of protective-order risks, the picture is of a wide-ranging theft of sensitive family-court and safety records that courts are still notifying people about through official channels at azcourts.gov.
Anyone who receives an official court notice should follow instructions from the Administrative Office of the Courts and law enforcement partners. People who believe they face an immediate safety threat should contact local police; domestic-abuse resources previously listed in court guidance include regional hotlines highlighted in earlier local coverage.
Foster Care Review Board reports help judges decide whether children should remain in care, reunify with parents, or move toward other permanency plans. Even without street addresses, names plus case narratives can be enough for abusers, traffickers, or identity thieves to target vulnerable families — the core fear Robinson voiced on camera.
Arizona’s courts have spent the past several days urging people to monitor official notices rather than viral social posts. The newly confirmed foster-care tally raises the stakes for counties and DCS contractors who must support families asking what, exactly, was taken. Until attribution is public, officials continue to describe the FBI-led investigation as active and the protective-order portal AZPoint as separately secure.
Based on AZFamily reporting by Micaela Marshall (published Sept. 29 evening MST, updated thereafter). Record counts and Timmer/Robinson quotes as attributed in that report. Does not identify non-public children or parents.