The recent attack on Muscatine prompted the local library to put a warning sign to create awareness. According to Pam Collins, the Library Director, the sign states that internet cannot be used in the library due to the non-functional state of its wifi’s IT infrastructure.
The Musser Library was one of the major victims of the latest attack. As a result, the library had to turn off many of its systems as ransomware removal and recovery processes are being initiated.
Muscatine’s Communication Manager, Kevin Jenison, unveiled that after the attack, the Muscatine Police Department, Cyber Crime Unit, and FBI were notified. These agencies are currently working to search the perpetrators as well as ascertain whether any data related to the public was at risk or not.
While the IT infrastructures of the city’s other department like fire and the police departments have been successful in ransomware removal and recovery, the same cannot be said of the library where entire networking devices are non-operational. Similarly, most of the computer systems are unavailable.
One computer has been made operational. However, the library administration is finding it harder to manage its entire operations through a solitary computer.
The city management has explained that there is no possibility of data theft. The reason behind this is that a ransomware works by simply entering a system and then applying encryption on its data. By using cryptographic algorithms, the ransomware manages to lock the data. The data can only be unlocked or decrypted with a decryption key. This key is held by the owners of the ransomware. During the whole ransomware process, cybercriminals do not intend to steal data and run off.
It is expected that the upcoming elections in the city will be conducted on time where the ransomware may not bear any impact.
