SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Ransomware Attack Paralyses St Louis Libraries as Hackers Demand Bitcoins
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 33 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
TAPPING? You POLITICIANS! Don't you realize that the END of the "Wash
Cycle" is a TREASURED MOMENT for most people?!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by damnbunni on Wednesday January 25 2017, @02:16PM
The time costs money.
'Time that has already been paid for in the form of salaries'? Er, no. Even assuming the workers are salaried, instead of waged, the hours they spend working on restoring the computers is hours they are NOT spending on doing whatever their job normally is. So either that work backs up and doesn't get done, or someone else has to do it - probably working overtime.
So either they have to pay people extra to fix the computers, or pay someone else to come in and fix the computers, or pay people to do the work of the people who are fixing the computers.
You also have to realize that libraries are usually on a shoestring budget. Even big city libraries. They don't get nearly enough funding to hire IT experts. Their systems are cobbled together by volunteers and whoever on the staff knows the most about wifi. SHOULD they be able to hire those experts? Yes. But they often barely get enough funding to maintain their buildings and buy the occasional book. IT spending is way down on the list.
I've worked in libraries. (Not these libraries.) The people I worked with were passionate about their work, and knew they were cutting corners, and wished they could afford to NOT cut them, but they didn't have a lot of choice.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday January 25 2017, @06:17PM
I would disagree. There is nothing else to do if all the computers, servers, systems or whatever are down. Getting them up again is the only task at hand. If you are paid to work with the computers then this is now your only or main task. If you are getting paid a monthly (or weekly or whatever) wage then you are already paid for, if you spend the time eating cookies and drinking coffee or reinstalling windows machines it's the same in that regard - the cost did not increase or decrease. There is no extra cost involved unless you have to hire some outside expert(s) to deal with the issue, or I have to pay you overtime. But on their alleged shoestring budget there probably won't be anyone or anything extra. I'm not certain but I doubt the FBI sends a bill for their assistance, if they offered any.
I don't doubt that the staff or the volunteers are doing their best and that they love working at a library. The things mentioned doesn't really have to cost much, if any, either. I did not go into it but the post after mine by Number6 (I want to know something ...) does lay it out better than I would have. All I can add to his/her post is that Deep Freeze is excellent when it comes to dealing with and running public machines.