Boston Public Library Affected by Cyberattack

The Boston Public Library (BPL) announced on 27th August that its network was compromised on Wednesday, resulting in a system-wide technical outage. BPL stated that the current technical disruption was triggered by a cyberattack on its servers on Wednesday. 

BPL hosts nearly 4 million people each year through its central library and twenty-five nearby branches, as well as millions more online. In terms of an overall number of items, it is the third-largest public library in the United States, following the federal Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. 

“The library is currently experiencing a significant system outage and online library services that require login are unavailable,” a notice on the library’s site currently reads. 

The library stated, “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 shut down network communication.” 

An ongoing investigation, conducted in a joint effort with law enforcement and the Mayor’s IT specialists, has so far shown no evidence of employee or patron theft of data from the compromised systems.