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Ransomware Attack Paralyses St Louis Libraries as Hackers Demand Bitcoins

posted by on Wednesday January 25 2017, @09:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the we-don't-negotiate-with-terrorists dept.

Fnord666 writes:

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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  • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:00PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:00PM (#458529)

    If you would have bothered to RTFS you'd have seen that a middle manager clicked on an email link. It had nothing to do with computers set out for patrons.

    I see nothing in TFS(summary) to that effect. (maybe I need coffee)

    From TFA:

    Last year, the FBI cyber division assistant director James Trainor warned that attacks were becoming increasingly sophisticated. “These criminals have evolved over time and now bypass the need for an individual to click on a link,” he said. “They do this by seeding legitimate websites with malicious code, taking advantage of unpatched software on end-user computers.”

    Starting Score:    1  point
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