Cybersecurity breach at Calgary Public Library forces closure of locations across the city

All Calgary Public Library locations closed early on Friday after a cybersecurity breach compromised some systems, according to a spokesperson.

All locations wereshut down as of5 p.m.

The library says the closures are a proactive measure to mitigatethe potential impact. All servers and computer access will also be shut off in addition to the closureof library locations.

"Data security is a key priority for the library and our security team is working diligently to determine the scope of the breach," a library spokespersonsaid in a release.

"We will provide timely updates of the library's closures as more information becomes available."

Watch for phishing emails, warns expert

John Zabiuk, who teaches IT security at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, told CBC News cybersecurity breaches usually involve personal information being leaked to hackers.

In the case of the Calgary Public Library, Zabiuk says if the information of library users has been compromised, they can be at risk of further cyber attacks.

"Typically that information can be used or sold on the dark web for various means, even creatingfalse identities," he said.

Zabiuksaysthe library itself could also lose theability to provideservices,depending on whichsystems were compromised. It's not uncommon forhackers go after financial information in hacks such as this one, he said.

"Typically, most of these attacks start with a phishing email," Zabiuk said. "[Hackers] are going to send out a phishing email to as many targets as they can and whichever one responds, that's the target they're going after."

It's unclear how the library'scybersecurity was breached, but Zabiuk said it's likely a phishing scheme has already played a role.

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