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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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You recoil from the crude; you tend naturally toward the exquisite.
(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.