Cyber attack snarls Contra Costa County Library system network | News

It may take several days to recover from a ransomware attack that has shuttered the online network linking all branches Contra Costa County Library branches and the Martinez administrative offices, the system said Friday.

On Friday, January 3, the Library was hit by a ransomware attack. As a result, all 26 community libraries and the library administration office in Martinez experienced network outages.

The Library is working with the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff and the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office to investigate the attack.

"The affected servers have all been taken offline and some library services have already been restored," library officials said in an announcement. "It may be several days before all library services are fully operational."

All branches will be open for their regular hours, where patrons will be able to check out and return materials and use public computers.

Printing services are not available, however.

"We apologize for the inconvenience this outage is causing our patrons and ask for patience as we work to get all services back online," County Librarian Melinda Cervantes said in a statement. "We are working closely with law enforcement, including IT experts to gather information and prevent future attacks."

The county sheriff and district attorney are investigating the incident, but officials said personal data of library patrons is on an unaffected server and likely hasn't been compromised.

"Still it's always wise to monitor your personal information on a regular basis," officials said.

"The library only collects name, address, phone number, email address and birth date," officials said. "The library does not collect Social Security numbers and does not store credit card payment information. In the past the library collected driver's license numbers, but ended that practice in 2019 and removed all driver's license information from customer records."

Patrons can direct questions about library services to Library Administration at (925) 608-7700 during regular business hours.