Douglas County Libraries in Colorado recently faced a ransomware attack attributed to the Play ransomware gang, causing temporary disruptions in catalog and services.
Discovered on January 14, the cyberattack prompted the library to take its network offline and initiate an investigation with external cybersecurity specialists.
Despite being a week into the incident, negotiations with the Play ransomware gang are ongoing, with the library emphasizing its commitment to providing essential services to the community during the outage.
Library officials, handling the situation with their cyber insurance company, declined to disclose whether they plan to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers.
Executive Library Director Bob Pasicznyuk revealed the initial discovery of the attack when alarms were triggered on the network early on January 14.
The entire library system, including the online catalog, holds placement, and in-person book checkouts, was affected. The hackers, identified as the Play ransomware gang with ties to Russia, left a note on the server, sparking questions about the motive behind targeting a library.
Pasicznyuk dismissed any connection to recent controversies and suggested economic motives for the attack. Despite a recent cybersecurity audit yielding an A+ rating, the library is working with a cybersecurity firm to recover and gradually restore services, anticipating intermittent website disruptions for the next few weeks.
