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Apparently it's the library's turn to pay a fine.
Libraries in St Louis have been bought to a standstill after computers in all the city's libraries were infected with ransomware, a particularly virulent form of computer virus used to extort money from victims.
Hackers are demanding $35,000 (£28,000) to restore the system after the cyberattack, which affected 700 computers across the Missouri city's 16 public libraries. The hackers demanded the money in electronic currency bitcoin, but, as CNN reports, the authority has refused to pay for a code that would unlock the machines.
As a result, the library authority has said it will wipe its entire computer system and rebuild it from scratch, a solution that may take weeks.
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Ransomware Attack Paralyses St Louis Libraries as Hackers Demand Bitcoins
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Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5
(Score: 2) by shipofgold on Wednesday January 25 2017, @01:27PM
The problem is "who" gets to create that list of compromised serial numbers and "who" will actually honor them?
I am guessing that it is a lot easier to launder "compromised" bitcoins as there will always be people who will accept them for some good or services (perhaps at a discount). Attaching the bitcoin to a real person is the hardest part....especially across borders.
In this case the sum of $35K probably wouldn't even motivate most law enforcement to look at it even if you could prove it was currently located in their jurisdiction.
I could also imagine a market in extortion by threatening to report your bitcoin as compromised.
Finally, even if your bitcoin are marked "compromised" after you pay a ransom, you won't get them back.