SEATTLE — The Seattle Public Library system is fully operational after a ransomware attack in May sidelined many of their services.
"It's kind of like having your world just there one day,” Elizabeth Balow said. “Gone the next. And the next thing know you're feeling attacked. "When something like that gets attacked, it's hard not to take it personally."
Balow is one of the thousands of people that rely on the Seattle Public Library every day. For the past four months, its 27 library locations were severely impacted by a ransomware attack over Memorial Day weekend.
"We've always monitored for that kind of behavior, but this is the first time that we've seen something like this, of this impact," said Laura Gentry, Seattle Public Library head of communications.
The attack disrupted access to staff and public computers, the online catalog and loaning system, e-books and e-audiobooks, in-building wi-fi, and its website.
"Checked out physical books,” Gentry said. “So our staff were handwriting those check-outs. And eventually, we got sophisticated enough to have spreadsheets."
By early August, Wi-fi was back in the libraries and staff computers were operating. And now, public computers are back online and will remain online for the foreseeable future, after implementing protective measures.
"We did multi-factored authentication; we've moved all of our systems into the cloud,” Gentry said. “All of those kinds of processes you need to do to make your system more secure."
The library is partnering with forensic specialists to investigate who the hackers are, what they were looking for and what they got their hands on. A small number of staff members had some personal information accessed. Officials said it's still unclear if any patrons had their information breached.
They hope to release more information in a report by the end of the year.
So the story still continues, as people share one final message to hackers in this chapter.
"Knock it off," Balow said. "Find something better to do. You can do better than hacking."