Boston Public Library, the oldest and one of the largest public libraries in the US has suffered a cyberattack that caused a systemwide technical outage affecting public computers, printers and some of the online services.
“On Wednesday morning, 8/25, the Boston Public Library experienced a systemwide technical outage due to a cybersecurity attack, pausing public computer and public printing services, as well as some online resources. Affected systems were taken offline immediately, and proactive steps were taken to isolate the problem and shutdown network communication,” BPL said in a statement on its website.
There is no evidence that sensitive personal information of employees or patrons has been affected, the library added.
While libraries themselves remain open and some online services continue to function, most of the network is still down and it’s unclear when it will be restarted.
BPL did not share the details on the nature of the cyberattack or how the attackers managed to compromise the network. In an email sent to stuff David Leonard, president of the Boston Public Library, said that it does not seem that the issue was caused by employees’ negligence or error. He also said that due to the cyberattack some data may be lost permanently and will have to be rebuilt.