Friday, May 14, 2021

The Ouachita Parish Public Library became the target of a malware attack on April 21. Promptly upon detection of the incident, the Ouachita Parish Public Library’s Information Technology Department initiated response and containment protocols. The Library notified local, state and federal agencies of the attack to request assistance in the investigation and mitigation of the security incident.

“At this time, we can confirm the attack has caused no encryption or loss of data on the Library’s servers. The security and confidentiality of all data is a top priority for us,” said Library Director Robin Toms.

Systems recovery efforts are in process and being implemented as quickly as possible, and teams are working to maintain the Library’s working operations to minimize the impact on its patrons.

Although the Library is actively managing this incident and will continue to do so, it has caused and may continue to cause delays in public services.

Together with cyber-security experts, the Library has contained the issue and immediately put in place all possible extra security measures.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause to our patrons and underline the need to be extra vigilant in the current circumstances to minimize any potential damage,” Toms said