Another public body has fallen victim to a cyberattack.
The municipally owned Toronto Zoo confirmed in a statement that it is dealing with a ransomware incident, which was first detected on Friday, January 5.
The zoo said an investigation has been launched to determine the extent of the impact on various records, including those of guests, members, and donors.
The IT system may also contain data related to its 273 permanent full-time and 330 part-time or seasonal employees, according to the statement.
Besides the potential impact on its records, the zoo assured that no credit card information is currently stored in its system.
The zoo’s website was also unaffected by the attack, with tickets remaining available for online purchase.
Additionally, the zoo remains open for normal operations and continues to welcome guests.
Your Toronto Zoo is currently experiencing a ransomeware/cyber incident. We are investigating the impact, if any, to our guests, members and donor records. We can confirm we do not currently store any credit card information. Once we have more information we will share it broadly pic.twitter.com/FgDIp8vapt
— The Toronto Zoo (@TheTorontoZoo) January 8, 2024
“We are working with the City of Toronto’s Chief Information Security Office and third-party cyber security experts to resolve the situation and have reported it to Toronto Police Services,” the statement said further.
This latest ransomware incident comes after a similar attack on the Toronto Public Library in October, which brought down a significant number of services.
The library said in November that its disrupted services will likely not be restored until January.
Notably, the City of Toronto was among the 2,000 organizations affected by the MOVEit file transfer application vulnerability exploited by the Cl0p ransomware gang in May last year.
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