Bring them to book! British Library hit by cyber attack as UK’s intelligence agencies hunt for the culprits behind ‘major technology outage’

• Access to library’s website and online catalogue temporarily unavailable
• Collection of items ordered on or after 27 October are also inaccessible 
• First revealed it was experiencing technical issues on Saturday 

The British Library says it has suffered a ‘major technology outage’ due to a cyber-attack, impacting its public site and online services. 

The research library in London, which has a large deposit of the UK and world’s book collections, is investigating the issue with National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and cybersecurity specialists.

Access to its website, as well as the catalogue and digital collections, is temporarily unavailable.

The collection of items ordered on or after 27 October are also inaccessible, as well new collection item orders via digital catalogues and reading room PCs. 

On Saturday, the library revealed it was experiencing technical issues before saying a few days later that the UK’s intelligence and cyber agency was assessing the issue. 

The research library in London, which has a large deposit of the UK and world’s book collections, is investigating the issue with National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC

The cause of the issue remains unclear. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the library said: ‘The British Library is experiencing a major technology outage, as a result of a cyber incident. ‘This is affecting online systems and services, our website, and onsite services including our reading rooms.

‘We are investigating the incident with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and cybersecurity specialists.

‘We are very grateful for the support and understanding we have had from our users, staff and partners.

‘The Library’s sites remain fully open to the public and details on the services that remain available can be found via @britishlibrary on X (formerly Twitter).’

The British Library said on X that the building, near St Pancras Railway Station, continues to be open and visitors can access the reading rooms for personal study.

Items ordered before October 26 can also continue to be collected, the library added, and there is “very limited” pick-up for books which can be found in its printed catalogues.

Speaking about its latest exhibition, the library also wrote on X: ‘If you have tickets to Fantasy: Realms of Imagination, you’ll still be able to use them.

‘You can also buy tickets onsite but we can only accept cash.’

The British Library boasts that it contains more than 170 million, including 13.5m printed books and e-books, rare manuscripts, maps, stamps, sound recordings, photographs and music.

In 2022, it spent £1,300 on introducing pronoun badges for staff, despite its own risk assessment warning the move could appear ‘too woke’. 

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