The Boston Public Library revealed that they have been a victim of a cyberattack that disabled its computer network.
The affected systems were taken offline to prevent the threat from spreading. During the time of the announcement, the library stated that there was no evidence of sensitive employee or patron data being compromised.
The Boston Public Library is the oldest large municipal library in the nation.
According to the statement published by the Boston Public Library, the cyberattack caused a system-wide technical outage, pausing public computer and public printing services, as well as some online resources. After taking the affected systems offline immediately, they took proactive steps to isolate the problem and shutdown network communication.
The library has reported the incident to law enforcement and is working with the Mayor’s Department of Innovation and Technology to mitigate the cyberattack. All locations will remain open, patrons will still be able to check out books, and some online services remain operational.
Kurt Mansperger, Chief Technology Officer of the BPL has apologized for any inconvenience caused due to the outage. He also assured that their team and law enforcement officials are working to restore the digital services and protect the library from future attacks.
