Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) administrators are investigating a suspected data breach that has compromised the library system’s email and phone servers. Library officials suspect malware, but the investigation is ongoing. Library services are available. However, community members are not currently able to call county library branches, to email staff or to access some digital resources. New appointments for curbside pickup of library materials are also not currently available because email is required to schedule appointments.
WCLS and Bellingham Public Library (BPL) are separate library systems. The data breach does not impact phone or email service at Bellingham’s three branches: Central, Fairhaven and Barkley Village. WCLS and BPL do share online access to some digital resources. That authentication server has been temporarily shut down as part of WCLS’s security review. A list of impacted resources is available at wcls.org/patronupdates and BellinghamPublicLibrary.org. Patrons can access other digital assets as well as the library’s website and social media.
“The security of patron information is of utmost concern to us – always,” WCLS Executive Director Christine Perkins says. “Patron data is secure. The products we use for library transactions are not hosted on our servers. This issue is confined to internal communication systems. I am grateful to the IT professionals on our team who moved quickly to uncover issues, to assess the scope and to immediately begin addressing this situation.”
Library officials are assessing if the data breach impacted staff information and files.
Library patrons will be able to browse and check out books online and in-person at all 10 county branches, the bookmobile and the Library Express location on Northwest Drive. Curbside pickup is not available because it is scheduled via email. Library events will continue as planned. Because email and phone services are offline, community members who need to talk with library staff should visit a branch location. Find the nearest WCLS branch at wcls.org.
“We are working as quickly as possible to return full communication, but security is our top priority,” Perkins says. “Thank you to community members for your patience and support.”
Source: https://www.wcls.org/wcls-responds-to-suspected-cyberattack-on-email-and-phone-servers/
