The unidentified adversary “accessed email communications between Library staff and congressional offices,” according to spokesperson Bill Ryan.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — The Library of Congress discovered a recent cyber breach by an “adversary,” according to officials.
The unidentified adversary “accessed email communications between Library staff and congressional offices,” according to Director of Communications Bill Ryan.
Law enforcement is investigating and the Library is analyzing the breach. It’s unclear when the breach occurred, but Ryan says the “vulnerability” has been fixed to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Emails between congressional offices and some Library staff, including the Congressional Research Service, from January through September were compromised, according to an email sent to congressional staff Friday.
An email explained the cyber breach did not impact the separate House and Senate networks, individual House and Senate email accounts or the U.S. Copyright Office systems.
This is not the first time a large, national library has been attacked. The British Library in London was hacked in 2023, rendering its over 170 million items and website unusable, according to the New York Times.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. It’s located near the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.