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.

During the scrutiny session, Plaid Cymru MS Niamh Salkeld 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'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.

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.

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: “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.”

He pointed to the library’s second location plan, saying: “There's an economic development opportunity in developing the second site, and we have ambitious ideas.”