Report: “How the Calgary Public Library Avoided the Worst After it Was Targeted in a Massive Cyberattack”

From The Globe and Mail:

The Calgary Public Library first flagged suspicious activity on its servers on Oct. 10. Less than 24 hours later, it confirmed the library was the target of a full-fledged cyberattack.

Security teams chose to pro-actively shut down the servers rather than leave systems vulnerable, a decision that chief executive officer Sarah Meilleur credits with saving the library’s infrastructure, stopping the attack and ensuring that no business, employee or member data was compromised.

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The library is building back stronger using lessons it learned from the attack and recommendations from experts, but the strategy it already had in place stopped the situation from being much worse.

“No doubt we were preparing for what we might do if something like this happened, focusing on what recovery might look like,” Ms. Meilleur said. “That planning and preparation work stood us in good stead. You can’t prepare for every eventuality, but even thinking about the steps you might take help set you up for the future and for a solid comeback story.”

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Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News, Public Libraries