Cyber security ‘number one’ on National Library risk register

Ella Groves, ICNN Senedd Reporter

Cyber security is “number one” on the National Library of Wales’ risk register, according to its chief executive.

Rhodri Llwyd Morgan’s comments came during the organisation’s annual scrutiny session in the Senedd on Monday October 19.

Located in Aberystwyth, the National Library of Wales holds more than 6.5 million books and periodicals, as well as the largest collection of archives, portraits, maps and photographs in Wales.

During the scrutiny session, Plaid Cymru MS Niamh Salkeld raised the topic of cyber security, questioning how the National Library deals with technological risks.

She pointed to the cyber breach suffered by the British Library in October 2023, where a hacker group attacked the library’s online information systems.

Dr Llwyd Morgan said the British Library has still not been able to restore its systems and access to the collections following the “catastrophic cyber attack”.

He said: “Our systems are as resilient as we can possibly make them at the moment, but the broader digital estate is something that we are very cautious about.

“One of the British Library’s problems was closing down ageing systems, ‘legacy systems’ as they’re called. We are on it, we are closing down those systems.

“We are part of the CymruSOC arrangement, which is a national system looking at cybersecurity. We’re having briefing discussions with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) every month, which is part of GCHQ.”

Ashok Ahir, president of the National Library, said bots have contributed to the challenges, telling members they attempt to scrape the elements within the collections for the purposes of AI without permission.

The representatives confirmed the National Library is working with the NCSC, as well as the Welsh Government’s resilience and information security unit, to address cyber issues.

“Ambitious ideas”

Conservative MS Paul Davies questioned what changes or investments are needed to ensure the National Library continues to be able to protect the nation’s collections, remain financially sustainable, and provide value to the public.

Physical challenge

Dr Llwyd Morgan stressed the first and most important requirement is looking after the library’s collections – which poses a physical challenge as the collection continues to expand.

He said: “There is a statutory requirement on the national library as a legal deposit library.

“We receive collections – every publication in Britain comes to the library – and we’re one of six legal deposit libraries across the UK. So, the collection has to expand. We have no choice in that matter.”

Dr Llwyd Morgan also highlighted the importance of digital preservation, stressing the library’s digital collection “needs attention”.

He pointed to the library’s second location plan, which set up a second location to “cope with the need to grow”.

He added: “There’s an economic development opportunity in developing the second site, and we have ambitious ideas.”

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