'Why would you hack a library?': US county still struggling ...

Nearly three months after a ransomware attack disrupted phone lines, computer services and WiFi across Solano County's public libraries, systems are still down with no recovery in sight - an all-too-common plight for vulnerable government agencies, experts say. Patrons who depend on using library computers haven't had access to them since the April 5 attack, and some workers have had to find other ways to print papers or connect with other libraries, most of which still do not have working phones, library staff said. Such ransomware attacks against government agencies and the public infrastructure they host are extremely common, said Nick Merrill, director of the Daylight Lab at UC Berkeley's Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. In the attacks, criminals encrypt computer systems with malware, then threaten to withhold or leak data unless a ransom is paid. Their duration depends on the ...