Creaky IT may have laid ground for library cyber attack

OUTDATED IT systems could have enabled a cyber attack on the British Library, the Government has admitted.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said officials are in the dark about whether obsolete “legacy” technology is in use.

A ransomware hack on the library took place last autumn as a cyber crime gang took large parts of its website offline for weeks while leaking staff passports and employment records online.

Responding to a parliamentary question, Sir John Whittingdale, the media and data minister, said DCMS “[does] not hold information on systems used by non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the department”.

The Labour Party called on the Government to conduct an audit into which public bodies were still operating on legacy IT systems, which are more likely to be vulnerable to security breaches.

Pat Mcfadden, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told The Daily Telegraph: “Institutions such as the British Library are a much-valued part of British life. This breach exposes a serious weakness in our cyber defence protections. Cyber security is part of national security.

“It is important that robust protections are in place to stop hostile state and non-state actors from conducting attacks that undermine systems or even worse damage functions on which the country depends.”

The British Library is expected to spend up to £7 million, representing two-fifths of its reserves, to rebuild most of its digital services, the Financial Times reported last week.

Hackers also delayed the payment of royalties owed to authors including Richard Osman and Matt Haig.

Figures obtained by Labour last weekend showed that 34 systems currently in use across Whitehall have a “red rating”, meaning they are exposed to critical levels of risk.