Month-Long Cyber Attack on the Toronto Public Library Continues

By Baran Ghaforian News On the evening of October 28th, 2023, Toronto Public Library officials were alerted of a cybersecurity attack targeting their systems. This attack will force online library services to shut down until 2024. Jan Dawson, an area manager for 18 Toronto Public Library branches, claims services will be incrementally restored with a focus on tpl.ca, the official Toronto Public Library website. Until then, hundreds of thousands of Torontonians will be unable to access their current holds and loans, digital passes, and the library’s website. According to Dawson, new protocols are being put in place to work around the unserviceable systems.

The cyber attack has been detrimental to many students who rely on the public library for readily available information. “I need the online systems to find [...] books and articles on specialized history,” states Earl Haig student Parnia Raghibizadeh, regarding her upcoming history project. “There is so much information I get from specialized articles I can only find in the library’s [archives]; the free web isn't specific.” Students who rely on online passes are not the only ones affected by the cyber attack; visitors looking to borrow books are facing repercussions as well. “The catalogue being down is killing me. Usually, when I come to the library, I’m looking for something very specific. I often look it up on the website before heading there,” notes one library user. “We want our new releases back, we want our website back, we want our safe space back,” shares another.

The people of Toronto are frustrated with the prolonged inconvenience and want an explanation of how the cyber attack transpired and succeeded. Despite continuous staff efforts to get systems back up and running, it is unclear how severe the attack was and when usual operations can resume. Municipal investigators claim library staff’s personal information, including addresses and social insurance numbers, is at risk and could have been exploited in the attack. Though police do not believe this extends to cardholders and donors, the public is worried. Haig student, Sienna Wiitasalo, has “a bad habit of using the same password for everything. If someone hacked [the library] they could hack any of [her] information.” With inimical cyber attacks launched in 2023 on Canadian public institutions such as the Toronto Public Library, BORN Ontario, and five Ontario hospitals, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for Canadians.