Ransomware attack knocked The Seattle Public Library's systems offline

The Seattle Public Library was hit by a ransomware attack over the Memorial Day weekend in May 2024, taking technology services offline across all 27 of its locations.

Staff discovered the intrusion early on Saturday, May 25, while preparing to take systems down for planned server maintenance. The library shut everything off to contain the incident, contacted law enforcement and brought in outside cybersecurity specialists. The public website returned within hours, but the online catalogue, e-book and e-audiobook lending, staff and patron computers, in building Wi-Fi, printing and the loans system stayed unavailable.

Branches remained open. Patrons could browse and borrow physical books, CDs and DVDs, although checkouts and returns had to be handled manually while the catalogue was down. Library spokesperson Laura Gentry said operational updates were being posted to the library's blog, and officials said there was no estimated time for recovery.

The library said it could not confirm whether patron or employee information had been accessed while the investigation was under way. Recovery ran for months. The library reported on September 4, 2024 that all public services disrupted by the attack had been restored, alongside security changes that included multi-factor authentication and a move to cloud based systems.