Contra Costa Library Services Impacted by Cyber Security Attack

All Contra Costa County Library branches and the Martinez administrative offices have experienced a network outage due to a ransomware attack. The Library has been working with the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff and the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office to investigate the attack, which was reported on Friday, Jan. 3.

The affected servers have all been taken offline and some library services have already been restored. It may be several days before all library services are fully operational. Libraries will be open as regularly scheduled, you can check out and return materials and use public computers, though printing services are not available at this time. Some online services are impacted, but Discover & Go and Overdrive are operational.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this outage is causing our patrons and ask for patience as we work to get all services back online,” said County Librarian Melinda Cervantes. “We are working closely with law enforcement, including IT experts to gather information and prevent future attacks.”

The Library only collects name, address, phone number, email address and birth date. The Library does not collect social security numbers and does not store credit card payment information. In the past the library collected driver’s license numbers, but ended that practice in 2019 and removed all driver’s license information from customer records.

The Library has no evidence that any personal patron data has been compromised. The server that stores patron data related to library card accounts and transactions was not affected, still it’s always wise to monitor your personal information on a regular basis.

Patrons with questions about impacted library services can contact Library Administration at (925) 608-7700 during regular business hours.