Calgary Public Library in Crisis: A Major Cyberattack Disrupts Vital Services

The city of Calgary was sent into panic mode this week as all services at its public library system were shut down due to a devastating cyberattack.
For over a million residents of Calgary who rely on the public library for vital services like internet access, books, resources and community programs, it was a shock to learn that a cyber incident had crippled the entire system.
The troubles began last Friday when the library first notified the public of 'issues' through a message warning of a cybersecurity breach that had compromised some of its systems. As a precaution, all locations closed early that day and disconnected all computers and servers from the network.
By Monday it was clear this was a serious incident. The library announced all 22 branches would reopen later in the week but with very limited services available that did not require technology. No book returns were possible and all digital collections like ebooks and databases were completely inaccessible.

Even basic functions like room bookings, program registrations and access to WiFi could not be provided. Most worryingly, all loaned books had their due dates extended indefinitely as the core management systems were taken offline.

So how did such a crippling attack happen? Cybersecurity experts believe the targeting of libraries is a growing trend as they are seen as "soft targets" - vital community assets with important data but without robust security defenses.

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