In Wake of Cyber Threats, Federal Courts Change Process for Filing Sealed Records

In an article published September 15, 2025, by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Beth Waller, Chair of Woods Rogers’ Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Practice, is featured in a discussion about two recent federal District Court decisions that sealed documents filed with the court must be delivered in “hard copy” format, thanks to a growing concern of cyberattacks. Identical orders from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, issued on July 29, and the Western District, issued on August 11, underscore the challenges the industry faces in response to nefarious threat actors.

Beth told the publication in an interview, “The legal profession — be it private firms, courts, or the public sector — is a prime target for cyber crime because of the client or other confidences our IT infrastructure can hold. Poor cyber hygiene, such as failing to implement multi-factor authentication on a VPN connection, can lead to an opening that can be exploited by a cybercriminal.” 

Subscribers to Virginia Lawyers Weekly can read the article here.