Toronto Zoo: Ransomware attack had no impact on animal wellbeing

Toronto Zoo, the largest zoo in Canada, says that a ransomware attack that hit its systems on early Friday had no impact on the animals, its website, or its day-to-day operations.

The zoo said it doesn't store any credit card information and is also investigating whether the incident affected its guests', members', or donors' records.

"Currently, our animal wellbeing, care and support systems have not been impacted by this incident and we are continuing with normal Zoo operations including being open to guests," it said.

"The Zoo website is not impacted, and ticket purchases can continue to be made online at torontozoo.com."

The incident has been reported to the Toronto Police Service (TPS), the city's municipal police force, and the zoo is now working with third-party cyber security experts and the City of Toronto's Chief Information Security Office to determine the extent of the damage.

"If anyone is trying to contact the Zoo over the next several days we ask for your patience as we will endeavour to respond in a timely manner but response times may be impacted," the zoo added.

"We do not have more information than what is being shared here, and we will be keeping you updated as we learn more."

Canada's largest public library also hit by ransomware

Toronto Public Library (TPL) was also hit by a Black Basta ransomware attack on October 27.

The library is still dealing with the fallout, with many of its services, including the website, public computers, and digital archive, still unavailable.

The attackers also stole files containing the personal information of employees, customers, volunteers, and donors during the incident, including data of Toronto Public Library (TPL) and the Toronto Public Library Foundation (TPLF) employees, going back to 1998.

It said it hadn't paid the ransom asked by the Black Basta ransomware gang and is working with external cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack.

TPL is Canada's most extensive public library system, with 12 million books at 100 branch libraries across the city. It also has 1,200,000 registered members and operates on a budget of over $200 million.