Report: “Toronto Public Library Facing Disruptions Due to Cyberattack”

UPDATED POST (December 21, 2023) Toronto Public Library Service Reductions Projected To Last Months After Ransomware Attack (via Globe and Mail)

UPDATED POST (November 29, 2023) Public Libraries: A Month After A Cyber Attack Took Out Many Toronto Public Library Services, A Library Manager Speaks Out (via CBC)

UPDATED POST (November 24, 2023) Toronto Public Library Says Some Services Won’t be Restored Until January Following Cyberattack (via CityNews)

UPDATED POST (November 15, 2023) Personal Information of Toronto Public Library Staff Stolen in Cyber Attack, Investigators Say (via CityNews)

UPDATED POST (November 14, 2023) Toronto Public Library Holds Meeting To Discuss Ransomware Attack (via GlobalNews)

UPDATED POST (November 10, 2023) Toronto Public Library Says Sensitive Data May Have Been Exposed in Cybersecurity Incident (via CityNews)

UPDATED POST (November 7, 2023) Some Toronto Library Services Could Remain Offline For Another Week After Cybersecurity Incident (via CP24)

UPDATED POST (November 1, 2023): Toronto Public Library Outages Caused by Black Basta Ransomware Attack (via Bleeping Computer)

BleepingComputer has since learned that the Black Basta ransomware operation is behind the attack on the Toronto Public Library.

A photo of the ransom note shared with BleepingComputer allowed us to confirm that the ransomware operation was behind the attack.

[Clip]

While it is unknown now if the ransomware gang stole data during the attack, data theft is a significant component of their extortion strategy.

We will learn if data was stolen if the threat actors will use it as leverage to pressure TPL into paying a ransom.

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—-End Update—

From The Record:

Canada’s largest public library system said it is dealing with a cyberattack that brought down its website, member services pages and limited access to its digital collections.

The Toronto Public Library serves more than 1.2 million members with more than 12 million items spread across 100 branches. It said on Saturday afternoon that it was experiencing technical difficulties with online services as well as in-branch WiFi and printing.

By Sunday, the city-run organization confirmed that it was dealing with a cybersecurity incident. The library’s website has been replaced with a temporary page with a statement explaining the situation.

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Filed under: Data Files, Digital Collections, Interactive Tools, Libraries, News, Public Libraries