There is still no estimate for when internet access will be restored at Seattle's 27 public libraries. Officials say a ransomware attack hit their networks.

The library and its 27 branches continue to struggle through a ransomware attack that has disabled its networks, rendered its hundreds of public computers useless and turned its normal operations upside down.

Book checkouts are being done by spreadsheet. Column A: the library user’s account number. Column B: the book’s bar code number. The low-tech inventory will be integrated with the library’s normal account system at some future, unknown date.

With its computer networks down, the library has no way to check books back into its system, making it more convenient for everyone if you just hold onto your books for a little while. In normal times, the library says it loans out more than 1.1 million books and other items each month.

You can search the library’s catalog, but only from home, or from your phone, not from any of the computer terminals in libraries. The shutdown, which library officials have attributed to a ransomware attack, has now lingered for four weeks, with no solid estimate on when full library services may return.

The downtown library’s fifth-floor computer lab — often the most crowded space in the library — is empty. Dozens of computers, normally available for free to anyone who walks in, sit idle, cordoned off as if physically infected, rather than just virtually. Bringing your own computer won’t help: Wi-Fi networks are down too. (I initially sat down in the Greenwood library to write this story about the library’s broken computer network, before remembering that I couldn’t work there because the library’s computer network was broken.)

Bypass paywall: https://archive.is/yVa8c

Demanding a ransom from a public library system- people can be such scum.

      • gibmiser@lemmy.world
        132·
        2 days ago

        Existing salaried IT staff. Format all hard drives, reinstall software. Use data from most recent backup to restore library card list, wave all fines, start fresh.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
          162·
          2 days ago

          How big do you think their IT staff is? Also, there may not be any fines, because many libraries don’t charge them anymore and have not in quite some time.

          I think you need to be more familiar with libraries and library systems and how they work.

        • satanmat@lemmy.world
          71·
          2 days ago

          Tee hee

          While your point is correct — you assume that 1, they have good backups. 2 that they can “format “… etc

          Yes I frequently lose sleep over our backups where I work, and I know they are good… we do test them

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
            82·
            2 days ago

            On top of that, we’re probably talking about thousands of computers. Every library in the system, and it’s a city so it is a big system, is full of computers for both patrons and staff. Some of them will be specialized and I’m not even sure how they would be affected by this. The library where my wife works has things like 3D printers. Were they affected too? I have no idea, but they might be. And that’s a whole other headache.

            This is a huge amount of work for IT which would involve a lot of overtime and I doubt the library system can afford it because they are always underfunded, even in a “liberal” city like Seattle.

        • stoly@lemmy.world
          61·
          2 days ago

          There are likely less than 10 people in the entire system who run these things. That’s fine for doing mass deployments but not adequate to build a system from scratch.