California library has not recovered from ransomware

The computer systems of the public library in Solano County, California — which is located between Sacramento and San Francisco — continue to experience outages, following a ransomware attack that administrators last week.

See also: The British Library has begun restoring its online services

A notice on the website of the Solano Partner Libraries and St. Helena network, also known as SPLASH, announced Monday that Wi-Fi, phone lines and computer services are down at all locations and that virtual programs are canceled. The county's chief information officer, Tim Flanagan, said his office discovered unexpected activity on the California library's computer network on Friday that may be due to a ransomware attack.

"After identifying suspicious activity, we responded quickly to confirm the security of our systems and work to restore full functionality as soon as possible," Flanagan said.

As of Saturday, the St. Helena Public Library was open to patrons with its Wi-Fi, computers , and phones working normally, but it appears that the network is still experiencing problems.

County officials have not clearly revealed whether the outage at the California library is connected to the ransomware attack that hit SPLASH on April 5. During that attack, hackers breached the county library network, which uses a cloud separate from the rest of Solano County, and threatened to leak stolen data unless the county paid a $100,000 ransom.

See also: Toronto library recovers 4 months after cyberattack

Flanagan said the Solano County library system does not store financial information, although an ongoing investigation has not yet determined whether other personal information was compromised.

Flanagan said the California library is working with security researchers to investigate the ransomware incident and added that his office is conducting a separate investigation to understand the scope of the incident. “We are monitoring for related unexpected activity elsewhere on the network and at this time we have no evidence that the activity is occurring anywhere other than on systems .”

The Northern California county has a population of about 450,000 and includes cities near the San Francisco Bay Area, including Fairfield, Vallejo, Dixon and Benicia.

See also: London Public Library – ransomware attack: Most systems have been restored

How can someone protect themselves from ransomware attacks?

Protecting against ransomware attacks like the one at the California library requires multiple strategies. First, it’s important to keep software and operating system up to date. Additionally, using reputable antivirus is crucial. These tools can detect and remove ransomware before it can lock your files. Education is also critical. Users should be aware of the risks associated with opening and downloading files from unknown sources, as well as browsing suspicious websites. Finally, regularly backing up your important files can protect you from data loss in the event of a ransomware attack.

Source: statescoop