Ransomware attack takes library offline for a month, leaving residents without PCs or Wi-Fi

The Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington was attacked by ransomware and has been experiencing significant disruption to its operations since the end of May 2024. The system is expected to be restored soon, but the outage of the public PC space and Wi-Fi in the library has left one-third of the library's residents in a

No computers. Keep books. Seattle library network outage nears a month | The Seattle Times

The Seattle Public Library realized it had been hit by a cyber attack in the early morning of May 25, 2024. The library immediately contacted experts, took the entire system offline, and began investigating the extent of the impact and working to restore the system.

Even though the system went down, books, CDs, and DVDs could still be borrowed, new library cards were issued, and storytimes, homework help, and author talk events held in the library continued, all by managing items in Excel.

E-books and e-audiobooks were restored on June 13th, and finally, on June 25th local time, staff access to the library network is expected to be made available.

However, the open PC space on the 5th floor of the main library and the free Wi-Fi available within the library will remain unavailable.

According to library research, one-third of Seattle residents rely on library PCs and Wi-Fi.

The attack on the Seattle Public Library appears to have involved ransomware, which encrypts data and demands a ransom in exchange for decrypting it, but it has not been revealed what demands the attackers made to the library. The FBI also commented that they 'cannot confirm or deny whether they are involved in the investigation.' Local police declined to comment.

'We are grateful to our customers for their patience and generosity toward the Seattle Public Library and its staff as they work tirelessly to restore the technology infrastructure and public services our community relies on,' Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement through spokesman Carissa Braxton.