Toronto Zoo reported the cyber breach to police and are working with the city's information security office and outside cybersecurity experts to resolve the situation.
Toronto Zoo reported the cyber breach to police and are working with the city's information security office and outside cybersecurity experts to resolve the situation.
The Toronto Zoo has been hit by a ransomware attack, becoming the latest city institution to fall victim to a cyber security breach following an attack on the public library in the fall that has kept many of its services unavailable.
The zoo said in a news release Monday that the "incident" was detected early Friday, triggering a staff investigation into the extent of the breach.
"We are investigating the impact, if any, to our guests, members and donor records," the zoo said. "We can confirm we do not currently store any credit card information. Once we have more information we will share it broadly.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
"Currently, our animal well-being, care and support systems have not been impacted by this incident and we are continuing with normal zoo operations, including being open to guests. The zoo website is not impacted, and ticket purchases can continue to be made online at torontozoo.com …"
"Unfortunately, these incidents are becoming more and more common, and we are grateful we took steps over the past few years to upgrade our technology infrastructure."
Zoo managers reported the breach to Toronto police and are working with the city's information security office and outside cybersecurity experts to resolve the situation, said the zoo, which asked for patience for anyone trying to contact zoo staff over "the next several days."
The October attack on Toronto Public Library knocked out multiple services for patrons. Although some library services, such as Wi-Fi, have since resumed the library is still working on restoring some services on which patrons rely to apply for jobs, communicate with loved ones, apply for housing and access government services.
Library spokesperson Ana-Maria Critchley said Monday that the following services have yet to be restored: the library website and personal accounts; public computers; printing; tpl:map passes; Ontario Parks passes; library card renewals; the placing, suspending or managing of holds; and some digital collections including Cantook Station, LinkedIn Learning and O'Reilly Learning.
"We expect a gradual return of services beginning later this month," Critchley said, adding that many online services are functioning and patrons can get new library cards.
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