Hacker News

same for Toronto: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-library-ranso...

A California nonprofit's computers were once stolen only to be returned by the thieves.

That would also have arguably been more risky of a redemptive act than the right thing to do in this circumstance.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if automated AI agents are probing vulnerabilities and following a preset playbook for extortion without any human involvement.

I highly doubt it was targeted.

Immoral criminals? Now I've seen everything.

Right? Like what are they going to delete? The digital books? Who had what checked out?

Agreed. This is just shitty. Libraries are one of the few things holding the world together right now, and no they don't make tons of money...

The libraries here have figured out that no one votes against library taxes and have built up a $250 mil slush fund on top of all new facilities and so many unnecessary "services" that they have a full fledged advertising campaign to tell people about these things they didn't even know they need.

They really are looking for a reason to exist in the digital age.

Additionally, a Queens library card is available to anyone world-wide for $50 annually. I have a membership in Canada to access their digital library.

Brooklyn too. (Bronx and Staten Island being served only by NYPL, the “Manhattan” one)

When the British Library was hit by ransomware, some systems were down for months. They were old software that didn't run on the newer more secure systems the library had to migrate to. And there was no funding to rewrite them, not without cutting already affected services.

should be simple, restore from backup. right ?

Ransomware infections frequently start with a phished user, not a popped web app.

NGL it is crazy to me to declare no one needs a library when a new hardcover book is at least $30. I would be out hundreds of dollars, probably over a thousand a year, if I had to buy new every time I wanted to read some book I heard of and maybe didn't even enjoy (the guilt-free "read 20% decide its not for me" is amazing).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

Personally, I believe these are important for a functional society more generally.

> For everyone talking about how important this is, I'm curious how many have visited a library in the last 5 years to actually get a book.

At least every other week if not more often. I also use the library digital services a good bit. There's always lots of people at the libraries I go to browsing books, I imagine they're also checking them out.

> it could probably disappear and no one would miss it.

The libraries I go to have so many people using their various services constantly. People studying and reading. Kids playing, exploring and reading. 3D printers buzzing. Classes and events being hosted.

> one extra field trip for every school child per year

You're going to replace something lots of people use across all age ranges constantly with a single day event for only children once a year? Sounds like a terrible loss IMO.

I agree a library is way more than just a place to get books today. They do offer a lot of community center features, and I think modern library designs should cater to that need as well. But they're not homeless shelters, they're not daycares. They still have their own specific use, a general place of learning and knowledge for all people. A place for all the community to come together, not just little kids or just the homeless. It's just the way we go about sharing that has evolved a bit over time compared to the stodgy old libraries of the past.

Always shocking how willing some Americans are to tear down services that a large portion of the world would envy. Particularly when they can't even be bothered to look up what the service provides to the community.

You can't really expect a library with hardly any money to do something like that. With companies, however, I would expect them to have a backup of their entire system so that, if something like this happens, they can simply format everything and restore the backup without significant downtime. Ideally, this should be done in a way that isn’t tied to specific hardware. Then they can simply store the backup with AWS or a similar provider and, if necessary, activate the server and continue working from there.

What's the right percentage of its budget a year that a public library should spend on cybersecurity? 10%? More or less?

That's a somewhat naive take, ransomware attacks have been launched in the past against many organizations that spend a lot on security such as the Dodd Group, various airports, healthcare providers, and energy infrastructure. The Ukraine war has shown that virtually nothing is secure against dedicated attacks, all kinds of government sites, satellite communications, and even live TV programming have been attacked successfully by both sides. In the war, the attacks are more destructive, but the same techniques for entry could also be used by ransomware.

when it is other nation states that are attacking, its up to the nation you are in to defend you. you dont expect costco to defend itself against Spetznaz?

honestly blame Elmo / DOGE for this; they are the $company who divested your security for you, thinking you could just "wing" it too

I wish the headlines around such things were more honest and would just say the truth: "$company is currently offline because we never really invested in security and thought we could just wing it"

Yes, because public libraries are well known for being awash in spare cash and never ever operate on a shoestring budget.