NSW Police have charged a man over a major data breach involving the alleged downloading of thousands of sensitive court documents.
Cybercrime Squad detectives raided a property in Maroubra in Sydney’s easy on Wednesday morning after a month-long strike force investigation.
They seized two laptops during the search and arrested a 38-year-old man.
Strike Force Amherst was formed last month to investigate the unauthorised access of nearly 9,000 restricted documents held by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) on its Online Registry website.
Detectives revealed in March that the 8,769 sensitive court files included domestic violence orders and affidavits being downloaded.
They were accessed over a two-month period between late January and March.
The portal, which is overseen by the DCJ, provides access to sensitive information about both civil and criminal cases across the NSW court system.
Strike force detectives, working closely with state and Commonwealth agencies, said they “identified the source of the compromise as an account linked to a registered user of the Online Registry website”.
The man has been charged with accessing and modifying restricted data, as well as using a carriage service to menace/ harass, offend,and stalk/ intimidate and with intending to cause fear or physical or personal harm relating to an outstanding warrant.
He was refused bail and is due to front Waverley Local Court on Thursday.
