www.bbc.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.64.81  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to content

British Broadcasting Corporation
RegisterSign In
 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Business
 * Innovation
 * Culture
 * Travel
 * Earth
 * Video
 * Live

 * Home
   
 * News
    * Israel-Gaza War
      
    * War in Ukraine
      
    * UK General Election
      
    * US & Canada
      
    * UK
       * UK Politics
         
       * England
         
       * N. Ireland
          * N. Ireland Politics
            
      
       * Scotland
          * Scotland Politics
            
      
       * Wales
          * Wales Politics
            
   
    * Africa
      
    * Asia
       * China
         
       * India
         
   
    * Australia
      
    * Europe
      
    * Latin America
      
    * Middle East
      
    * In Pictures
      
    * BBC Verify
      

 * Sport
   
 * Business
    * Future of Business
      
    * Technology of Business
      
    * Work Culture
      

 * Innovation
    * Technology
      
    * Science & Health
      
    * Artificial Intelligence
      

 * Culture
    * Film & TV
      
    * Music
      
    * Art & Design
      
    * Style
      
    * Books
      
    * Entertainment News
      

 * Travel
    * Destinations
       * Africa
         
       * Antarctica
         
       * Asia
         
       * Australia and Pacific
         
       * Caribbean & Bermuda
         
       * Central America
         
       * Europe
         
       * Middle East
         
       * North America
         
       * South America
         
   
    * World’s Table
      
    * Culture & Experiences
      
    * Adventures
      
    * The SpeciaList
      

 * Earth
    * Natural Wonders
      
    * Weather & Science
      
    * Climate Solutions
      
    * Sustainable Business
      
    * Green Living
      

 * Video
   
 * Live
    * Live News
      
    * Live Sport
      

RegisterSign In
Home
News

Sport
Business

Innovation

Culture

Travel

Earth

Video
Live

Audio
Weather
Newsletters


BRITISH LIBRARY: EMPLOYEE DATA LEAKED IN CYBER ATTACK

21 November 2023
By Yasmin Rufo, Culture reporter
Share
Getty Images
The British Library acknowledged it had been a victim of a cyber attack

The British Library has confirmed that a cyber attack in October has led to a
leak of employee data.

The attack, which took place on 31 October, has also resulted in the library's
website being down for almost a month.

The Rhysida ransomware group claim to be behind the attack, and say they will
auction off the stolen data.

The cyber gang say the price for data, that includes passport scans, has been
set at 20 Bitcoin (£596,459).

The British Library, the UK's largest library, posted on X, saying: "Following
confirmation last week that this was a ransomware attack, we're aware that some
data has been leaked. This appears to be from our internal HR files."



However, it added that it has "no evidence that data of our users has been
compromised", and it has not confirmed that the data being sold at auction
belongs to British Library employees.

A National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) spokesperson said it was working with
the library to "fully understand the impact" of the incident.

It added: "Ransomware is the key cyber threat facing the UK, and all
organisations should take immediate steps to limit risk by following our advice
on how to put in place robust defences to protect their networks."

On Monday the Rhysida ransomware group said it was behind the attack and shared
an image to its leak site on the dark web showing various documents, some of
which appear to be HMRC employment contracts and passports.

The BBC has not verified whether the data is real.



The cyber criminals said an auction for "exclusive, unique and impressive data"
would end just before 0800 GMT on 27 November, and would be sold to one
single-party winner.

On 15 November the FBI and the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency
issued a warning on the threat posed by Rhysida.

In a joint statement, it said: "Threat actors leveraging Rhysida ransomware are
known to impact 'targets of opportunity', including victims in the education,
healthcare, manufacturing, information technology, and government sectors."

Rhysida ransomware group
Rhysida ransomware group has also stolen data from the Chilean army and the
University of West of Scotland

The group are also behind recent attacks on the Chilean army, the Portuguese
city of Gondomar and the University of West of Scotland.





ANALYSIS

Joe Tidy, BBC Cyber Correspondent

These kinds of attacks are sadly extremely common with ransomware gangs like
Rhysida successfully stealing troves of data from companies and disrupting
operations every day.

Advice from law enforcement agencies around the world is always to refuse to pay
a ransom to these criminals as it fuels their industry, but sadly many victim
organisations do to cover it up or return to normal as swiftly as possible.

As a public institution it's highly unlikely that British Library will cave to
the cyber criminals' demands so Rhysida are left with a mass of stolen data that
they need to make money from as quickly as possible before moving on to the next
victim.



The timer on their darknet leak site appears to be counting down to a time (in
six days) when the stolen data will be either given away for free or deleted.

It's a troubling time for the employees who may be more at risk of identity
fraud, but it also could have been far worse had the hackers gained entry to
more sensitive or larger data sets housed by the British Library.



In a statement, the world-renowned library, which has one of the largest book
collections in the world, says it "anticipates restoring many services in the
next few weeks, but some disruption may persist for longer". The attack has had
an impact on the library's website, online systems and services such as book
ordering.

The statement added: "If you have a British Library login and your password is
used elsewhere, we recommend changing it as a precautionary measure.

"We've taken targeted protective measures to ensure the integrity of our
systems, and we're continuing to investigate the attack with the support of NCSC
[National Cyber Security Centre], the Metropolitan Police and cybersecurity
specialists."


HACKING GANGS VOW TO DE-ESCALATE UKRAINE CYBER-WAR


CYBER-ATTACK ON ELECTORAL REGISTERS REVEALED


UNIVERSITY'S WEBSITE CRASHES IN CYBER INCIDENT

Cyber-crime
Bitcoin
Cyber-attacks
Cyber-security

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related


DON'T BLAME US FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING - LONDON HOSPITAL HACKERS

7 days ago

Technology


NHS HACK WARNING ISSUED TO EVERYONE IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY

17 Jun 2024

South Scotland


DEAD IN 6 HOURS: HOW NIGERIAN SEXTORTION SCAMMERS TARGETED MY SON

9 Jun 2024

Africa

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More
2 days ago


NHS CONFIRMS PATIENT DATA STOLEN IN CYBER ATTACK

The NHS said Patients should continue to attend their appointments unless they
have been told otherwise.

2 days ago

England
6 days ago


US BANS KASPERSKY SOFTWARE FOR ALLEGED RUSSIAN LINKS

Government says Moscow's influence over the company was found to pose a
significant risk to US infrastructure.

6 days ago

US & Canada
6 days ago


CYBER ATTACK ON HOSPITALS IMPACTS 1,130 OPERATIONS

More than 1,130 planned operations have been postponed after a cyber attack hit
London hospitals.

6 days ago

London
14 Jun 2024


HOSPITALS CYBER ATTACK IMPACTS 800 OPERATIONS

The ransomware attack saw organs diverted, blood tests suspended and operations
rescheduled.

14 Jun 2024

London
13 Jun 2024


BLOOD TEST DELAYS CONTINUE AFTER CYBER ATTACK - GP

NHS teams are asked to only process "clinically critical" blood tests in the
wake of the cyber attack.

13 Jun 2024

London



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

British Broadcasting Corporation
 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Business
 * Innovation
 * Culture
 * Travel
 * Earth
 * Video
 * Live
 * Audio
 * Weather
 * BBC Shop

BBC in other languages



FOLLOW BBC ON:


 * Terms of Use
 * About the BBC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Cookies
 * Accessibility Help
 * Contact the BBC
 * Advertise with us
 * Do not share or sell my info
 * Contact technical support

Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved.  The BBC is not responsible for the
content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.