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Wales’ digital treasures, viewed 1.5 billion times, face a threat similar to a “catastrophic” cyber attack that left part of the British Library’s website offline for two years.

The stark warning came from Rhodri Llwyd Morgan – the National Library of Wales’ chief executive – during a Senedd committee hearing on Wednesday (October 8).

Cyber security is taking a “great deal” of the national library’s focus, Dr Llwyd Morgan told the culture committee, adding that significant additional investment is a priority.

The chief librarian said: “You’ll remember that the British Library suffered a catastrophic attack… two years ago.

“Their website still isn’t back up and running. The British Library doesn’t have the ability to provide an electronic legal deposit service for its users in London.”

Dr Llwyd Morgan pointed out that the service is now available in Aberystwyth and Cardiff as he welcomed extra Welsh Government funding to strengthen digital infrastructure.

‘When, not if’

Explaining what’s at stake, he told Senedd Members: “The way that we reach Wales and the world – more than any other method – is through the digital collections.

“The library’s work in terms of the digital collections on Wikipedia, for example, has been seen 1.5 billion times. So, our profile, and the profile of Wales on the international stage, stems in a significant manner from the library’s digital collections and those of our partners.”

He said he called an urgent meeting of the library’s internal security board that morning to review arrangements in the wake of a break-in at St Fagans museum.

Jane Richardson, chief executive of Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), echoed concerns about the growing risk of digital attacks on public bodies.

“We have a screen in our IT department that shows all the attacks that are coming at us,” she said. “We’re having multiple attacks, all the time. Some of them get further than others.”

Ms Richardson said one such attack about six weeks ago was “almost very serious”, adding that experts warn: “It will be a question of when – not if – someday, someone will get through: it’s just one of those facts that we have to live with.”

‘Bordering on a crisis’

Beyond the cyber threat, library leaders also detailed a looming conservation “crisis”, the impact of a 10.5% budget cut and pension scheme changes during the evidence session.

Dr Llwyd Morgan warned that the loss of specialist conservation skills was a Wales-wide issue, hitting local archives particularly hard as their budgets have shrunk.

He warned: “As budgets have been restricted, staff have gone, the expertise has gone. It’s bordering on a crisis in this particular area when it comes to the conservation of documents.”

The chief executive said the national library had also felt the effects, failing to meet its own targets for conservation hours due to staff cuts, and now plans to establish a “centre of excellence in conservation” to address the skills gap.

Dr Llwyd Morgan confirmed a two-month consultation was starting that day on changes to the staff pension scheme, including requests for “slightly higher contributions”.

In closing, Ashok Ahir – the national library’s president – warned Wales now risks being unable to properly care for a major new historical collection if one were discovered.