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An agency that defends the vast majority of criminal defendants in New Mexico was the target last week of a cybersecurity breach, the Law Offices of the Public Defender announced Wednesday.
LOPD, which represents at least 85% of the criminal defendants in the state, recommends that people use phone calls and in-person visits to communicate with the agency.
A statement issued by LOPD described the hack as a “significant” breach “compromising the office’s ability to communicate with clients and criminal court partners and to access internal records.”
The breach is likely to affect the timeliness of court proceedings across the state, the statement said.
Chief Public Defender Ben Baur said LOPD’s focus is protecting the confidential information of staff and criminal defendants.
“We are responding to this security breach as an emergency and doing our absolute best to guard our clients and our court partners,” Baur said in the statement.
The June 27 breach doesn’t appear to have spread beyond LOPD or to the approximately 400 attorneys who contract with the agency, it said.
LOPD describes itself as New Mexico’s largest law firm, representing low-income people facing criminal charges.
The agency operates 13 offices with 400 employees statewide.
