Toronto Public Library suffers cyber attack, confirmed ransomware

The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has experienced a cyber attack which has affected certain services. The attack impacts the public computers and printing services at the branches which are currently unavailable, as are online user accounts and the library's digital collections.

Despite the attack, all 100 branches of the library remain open, and members can still borrow materials. Several of the online services like Kanopy for movies, the digital archive for manuscripts and digitized books, the TPL Kids site, recorded library programs on YouTube and Crowdcast, and library podcasts are all operational.

The library has issued a statement on its website assuring that, to their knowledge, no personal information of staff or patrons has been accessed. The cyber attack was identified on Saturday. The library sought the expertise of third-party cybersecurity professionals to assist in resolving the issue, but anticipate a delay of several days before all systems are fully functional.

TPL declined to provide more information than what was available on the library's website.

Update - On Monday, 6th of November the library confirmed that a ransomware attack is responsible for the 10-day outage. It's possible that the recovery process for some services will last for further 10 days, keeping some of the services offline for the duration.

The Toronto Public Library (TPL) says personal information — including the names, birthdays, social security numbers and home addresses — of employees was stolen in a ransomware attack that has also affected key library services.

On 30th of January 2024, over three months after a debilitating ransomware attack, thje Toronto Public Library website is up and running again.

Public libraries, although not typical targets, are often affiliated with municipal governments. Some attackers may target them, hoping that the subsequent public outrage or embarrassment might compel them to yield to extortion demands.