Internet returns to Central Arkansas Library system after possible cyberattack | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A two-week Internet shutdown at the Central Arkansas Library System has officially ended, a library spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

The Internet disruption — created by a possible cyberattack affecting all of its 13 open branches — started on Feb. 6 when “unexpected activity” shut down the network. CALS chose to keep the Internet shut off as a precaution and to “determine what the course of action needs to be” to resolve it.

Since then, CALS visitors have been able to still check in and out materials, but the system’s catalogue hasn’t been updated.

Also, visitors have been unable to use the 205 public desktop computers at its branches — which includes those at the Main and Williams branches that are closed for renovation. The computers are now accessible to visitors.

“I don’t think this is caused by our internet service provider,” Executive Director Nate Coulter said last week. “And I’m confident it wasn’t a failure on our part. So the only possibilities are some external force or agents.”

Tameka Lee, the director of communications for CALS, said the investigation into the cause of the disruption is “ongoing” and could take “several weeks” to complete.

“At this point, we’re not aware of any data that has been compromised,” Lee said.

For the investigation, CALS had retained Mullen Coughlin LLC, a Pennsylvania law firm that represents organizations that have faced “information security incidents” according to Lee. It’s also retained Areter Cyber Risk Management Services.

According to its website, Areter is a cybersecurity company working “on the front lines of thousands of ransomware attacks and some of the largest nation-state attacks” and that it works with customers “in responding to and preventing cyber crime.”

With the network restored, CALS employees will have to manually input updates to the catalog, and CALS will review due dates going back to the day the Internet went down and will adjust overdue fines accordingly.

“Can’t say definitively how long that will take” to update the catalogue, Lee said. “It’s a process. So it’s going to take some time for everybody’s online record. To reflect what is checked in and checked out.”