The Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA) online system was offline for a full week in late November due to a ransomware attack. Now that the system has been restored, the incident has exposed significant vulnerabilities that Georgia property owners, buyers, and lenders should take seriously.
What Is GSCCCA and Why Does It Matter?
Established by the General Assembly in 1993, GSCCCA is a public corporation established to provide support and develop projects for the Clerks of Superior Court in Georgia. The organization maintains an index of commercial filings across all 159 Georgia counties, manages real estate and personal property records, and oversees the central database of notaries public. Its online system serves as a centralized portal that attorneys, title companies, and real estate professionals use to access deeds, liens, and other public records that have been recorded with each county’s clerk of superior court.
GSCCCA is the backbone of real estate transactions across Georgia. When this system goes down, even temporarily, the ripple effects are immediate and far-reaching.
The Immediate Impact + What the Outage Revealed
During the outage, attorneys and title companies were unable to clear title because they could not confirm ownership or check for liens, which meant closings were delayed statewide. The incident made clear that there is no cohesive, statewide backup plan for shifting to paper filing. Even though this outage ultimately lasted about a week, it demonstrated how fragile the system is – and how much worse the consequences could be if a future disruption lasts longer. Whether delayed move-ins, rate-lock problems for borrowers, or cash flow issues for sellers and small businesses, the ripple effects became obvious within days and would only intensify in a longer outage.
Some clerks initially estimated a one-week restoration period. In this case, that estimate proved accurate. But those of us who lived through the latest Fulton County cyberattack know that outages can last far longer, and this episode should not lull anyone into a false sense of security.
Beyond Transactions: The Data Breach Question
Even those who weren’t in the middle of closing a deal should be paying attention. This attack represents yet another assault on property owners’ ability to prove ownership—and raises serious questions about what personal information may have been compromised.
Last year, to combat deed fraud, the Georgia legislature enacted HB 1292. This legislation requires self-filers to submit documents electronically to the clerk for recording and mandates that such submissions include photo identification. That photo ID information was to be retained but treated as confidential. Now that the system has been restored, we still have to ask what, if anything, the attackers may have accessed. GSCCCA has stated there is currently no evidence that sensitive or non-public data was taken, and forensic analysis is still underway.
Legal Complications
Georgia operates under a “first in time, first in right” recording system. During the outage, some practitioners reported that certain clerks would not accept filings in person, while others did. This inconsistency across counties highlights how a cyberattack can create long-term legal uncertainty in a recording system that relies on uniform access.
Why This Matters to Everyone
These records are foundational to our society. Property rights depend on reliable, accessible public records. When those systems fail—or worse, when they’re compromised by malicious actors—the very foundation of property ownership is threatened.
This latest outage may be over, but the structural vulnerabilities it exposed are not. Cyberattacks on public infrastructure are increasing nationwide, and future incidents may last longer or cause deeper disruptions.
If you have a closing scheduled in the coming days, contact your attorney or title company to confirm that all required title searches and recordings were completed properly during and after the outage. If you’re a property owner, stay vigilant about monitoring your property records. And for all of us, this should serve as a wake-up call about the vulnerability of the systems we rely on to protect our most valuable assets.
Caela Abrams is a partner at Williams Teusink, LLC, handling residential and commercial real estate matters across Georgia. For questions about how this outage may affect your transaction, contact the firm at 404-373-9590.
