The U.S. Courts created a new category of document called Highly Sensitive Documents (HSDs) after the company SolarWinds announced it had been breached and unintentionally provided a “back door” into networks where it was installed.  This breach has impacted government, private sector, and international organizations.  In response to this news, the Administrative Office has recommended that court units maintain an electronically unbreachable system for HSDs.

In the Southern District of California, HSDs are defined as:

• Classified documents; and
• Sealed documents involving: national security; foreign sovereign interests; criminal activity related to cybersecurity, intellectual property, or trade secrets; terrorism; investigation of public officials; the reputational interests of the United States; and sensitive commercial information likely to be of interest to foreign powers.

The Bankruptcy Court has an Administrative Procedure for requesting to file documents under seal which has been amended to include HSDs.  The amended Section 3.5, Sealed Documents, is now included in our Administrative Procedures. 

As always, please contact the court at info_casb@casb.uscourts.gov if you have any questions.