@CyberpunkLibrarian

> currently under attack by right-wing politicians and fascists

I think you might have found the culprits. The cyber attacks feel pretty explicable if we assume they are a newer tactic in the ongoing assault on libraries rather than an unrelated issue.

Of course, it might just be that a lot of libraries have terrible security and make easy if unprofitable targets that get caught in a spray-and-pray approach to extortion.

@CyberpunkLibrarian That's likely the intent. Since money clearly isn't the motive, we must look at the only way anyone could benefit from encrypting a library archive. Those benefits, are likely censorship and undermining intellectualism and the stability of the country. My money's on right wingers or foreign nationals.

Ransomware attacks have been done on hospitals and power plants too, and they're likely connected.

@CyberpunkLibrarian
It's not often that there's a very simple litmus test to tell if you're on the wrong side, but this is one of those rare instances.

If the side you're on is attacking libraries, you're one of the bad guys. Period.

@CyberpunkLibrarian Were they really hackers? Did they specifically target the library?

I would suspect the culprits are criminals who didn't create the ransomware tool, but merely bought it and they are using it indiscriminately. The library simply happened to get infected. Maybe someone opened an attachment from a phishing email or visited an infected website using a vulnerable web browser?

@CyberpunkLibrarian

Just a reminder that the Seattle Public Library was one of a handful of libraries that opened up their entire catalog as part of the Books Unbanned Project, getting censored and banned books into the hands of students throughout the US.

@CyberpunkLibrarian I am a Hacker, and I Approve This Message.

#LibraryLibre #LibrariesForTheFuture

@CyberpunkLibrarian As someone who has worked in the cyber security industry for almost 3 decades, I gotta point out that most ransomware operations happening these days are sufficiently automated that the attackers likely have no idea who they've hit till after the victim contacts them.. They largely don't care who they hit either, as a payday is a payday.

Most threat actors now do not have some lofty agenda about the freedom of information. They're people living in countries with too few opportunities for legitimate jobs and/or with a state mandate to attack organizations in areas that are considered political adversaries.

@CyberpunkLibrarian The hackers hitting libraries are probably being paid to do it, because like you said they get absolutely nothing out of it.

Now to find out who’s paying them.