Maine’s courts push for more cybersecurity as all records move online
Maine’s courts push for more cybersecurity as all records move online
Publish Date: 2026-03-18 01:00:00
Source Domain: www.bangordailynews.com
Maine’s court system wants to hire its first full-time cybersecurity person, years after records started becoming available online.
Six of the state’s 16 counties currently have their court dockets, including case information and some schedules, online. The judiciary said all counties should be online by February 2027.
As more cases — including parental rights, criminal cases and foreclosures — move to online filing, the judiciary is asking for funding for a full-time cybersecurity position. The person would take over duties from a handful of people who share the security, the system said.
“Important and sensitive” information flows through the judiciary that needs to be protected, State Court Administrator Amy Quinlan said. A full-time person to “analyze, plan, test, and develop action plans” to prevent and prepare for an attack is needed, she said.
Funding for the position must be approved by the Maine Legislature as part of a supplemental budget. It is expected to cost nearly $37,000 for the 2026-27 fiscal year. That amount could rise to nearly $155,000 for the year after, according to Quinlan’s testimony.
Even in the most basic court case, there is information that the public should not have access to, such as Social Security numbers, cybersecurity expert Joseph Steinberg said. It’s also important to make sure the online court record system isn’t a gateway into the internal court system, he said.
Some court cases are not available to the public, but people involved can still file electronically and view documents.
The cybersecurity position is for overseeing the court’s online records, as well as its websites, emails and internal systems, spokesperson Barbara Cardone said.
“This is really important when we are building technology infrastructure,” Quinlan said at the hearing.
The judiciary declined to comment further.
“The main point is if you are going to move more and more things online,…
