Computer labs at Delaware libraries across the state are closed after hackers on Friday seized control of the virtual servers that run the facility’s public-use computers, according to Delaware Division of Libraries Director Annie Norman.

The hackers now are demanding money from the state in order to relinquish control of the system, Norman said. She did not know the exact amount demanded but said she “heard” it was around $1 million.

Norman added that she will direct the Division of Libraries not to pay any ransom, insisting instead that the Delaware libraries rebuild the servers that run the public’s computers.

She did not immediately know when the rebuild will occur, nor when the public-access computers will again be available.

“We see a lot of stories about this around the nation, and it seems to be recommended not to pay the ransom, but to rebuild,” she said.

The hack marks the latest in a trend of high-profile breaches of local government computer systems across the United States. On its website, governments have been “particularly visible targets for ransomware attacks.”

Last year, Kent County’s local government experienced what it called “a hostile network intrusion” which downed its webpage and rendered its office phones unusable for more than a month. 

Last month, the Bayhealth health care system based in Dover was , who were offering much of the stolen data on dark web boards for upward of $1.4 million in Bitcoin.

The Division of Libraries technology staff has been consulting with officials from Microsoft and with the Delaware Department of Technology and Information, Norman said. They still are trying to determine “what happened and where they got it,” she said. 

A spokeswoman from Delaware DTI declined to provide details about their consultancy.

In the days since the hack on Friday, several local libraries posted updates on social media sites about their public computer terminals not working. They did not reveal that the system had been the victim of a ransomware attack. 

On Monday, the Division of Libraries posted a note on its website stating that libraries are “experiencing an extended system/internet outage that is affecting some, not all, library services.”

Norman’s division oversees more than 30 libraries across the state. Each operates a computer lab that offers free access to the internet and low-cost printing. The labs are relied upon by a cross section of society, especially people without regular access to the internet. 

Norman stressed that the libraries remain open and still have WiFi, though she said it has been “a little spotty.”

She also emphasized that library card holders’ information is not currently at risk. 

“The good news is — thank God there’s some good news — is it’s not affecting the catalog, which is where there’s patron information,” she said.

The published on .

Last week, I set out to write a quick news hit on the  — a pilot program that will pump $200 million toward next-gen firewalls and other tools.

But that’s when things got weird. 

I came upon a new listing on a notorious dark web forum — the Amazon for stolen data, if you will — that offered millions of files purportedly stolen from the Los Angeles Unified School District for a thousand bucks.

LAUSD officials said they’re investigating the anonymous threat actor’s claims and a threat intelligence executive told me the district must carry out a full incident response to verify if the files are real.

Or new. 

It isn’t déjà vu: America’s second-largest school district fell victim to a massive ransomware attack in 2022. Thousands of students’ mental health records and other sensitive files found their way to the dark web. It’s possible that the LAUSD data got a facelift of its own, with the same data repackaged to make a quick buck. 

Read more about the latest LAUSD incident — and about the FCC’s new effort to thwart similar attacks nationally — here. 

In the news

Today in Florida, workers are set to demolish the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building where a gunman killed 17 people in a 2018 rampage. |

Relatives of 17 children killed during the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have sued state law enforcement officers who waited 77 minutes before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School. |

Special report: Through an unprecedented trove of dispatch call data for 852 California school addresses, reporters offer a rare look at “the vast presence of police in schools.” A third of calls “were about serious incidents that reasonably required a police presence.” |

New York lawmakers approved landmark rules that ban social media companies from using “addictive” algorithms to customize children’s feeds. Here’s a strong rundown on how the rules work. |

SWATted down: A Washington man has been sentenced to three years in prison for calling in hoax police reports in more than 20 states, including inciting false school shooting panic, leading to frantic lockdowns and massive police responses. |

First they came for the books. Next they came for the books about book bans. |

A new program in Illinois to help low-income families pay for the funeral costs of children killed by guns was designed to ease grief and financial burdens. After a year, just two families have been compensated. |

Prioritizing ‘profit over the wellbeing and safety of children’: Residential treatment companies that provide behavioral health services have put children at risk of sexual abuse and dangerous physical restraints, a new Senate committee report argues. |

First comes marriage, then comes homeroom: Missouri lawmakers failed to pass legislation that sought to prevent anyone under 18 years old from getting married, keeping in place the state’s minimum age of 16. |

A Tennessee school district where officials failed to prevent rampant racist bullying against a Black student will overhaul its anti-harassment procedures after reaching a settlement agreement with the Justice Department. Federal investigators found the student’s classmates passed around a drawing of a Ku Klux Klansmen, added him to a bigoted group chat and sold him to white peers in a mock “slave auction.” |

New York City school bathrooms could soon have “vape sensors” following a court settlement with tobacco company Juul that’ll direct $27 million to the city’s schools to combat youth vaping. |

Research & advocacy

‘New Jim Code’: Federal officials have failed to deter the civil rights harms that artificial intelligence in schools poses to students of color, a new report argues. |

DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |

DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |

ICYMI @The74

• Report: Higher Rates of Depression, Anxiety for LGBTQ Teens Forcibly Outed
  
• LA Schools Chief Carvalho Warns Student Homelessness Across City Worse Than Data Shows
  
• Psychologist Peter Gray Sounds the Alarm About Excessive Adult Oversight & What It’s Doing to Kids’ Mental Health

Emotional support

I promised you a new pup. I bring you a new pup. 

Sinead, editor Kathy Moore’s new emotional support companion, surveys her domain. 

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