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St. Louis Public Library hacked; computers and checkouts affected

St. Louis Public Library branches, including the Central Library pictured here, were dealing with a computer hack on Thursday.
(Rachel Lippmann | St. Louis Public Radio)
St. Louis Public Library branches, including the Central Library pictured here, were dealing with a computer hack on Thursday.

A so-called "ransomware attack" is causing problems at all St. Louis Public Library branches.

St. Louis Public Library branches, including the Central Library pictured here, were dealing with a computer hack on Thursday.
Credit (Rachel Lippmann | St. Louis Public Radio)
St. Louis Public Library branches, including the Central Library pictured here, were dealing with a computer hack on Thursday.

Library system spokeswoman Jen Hatton says one of the system's servers is being blocked by an outsider who is asking for money in exchange for returning control of the server back to the library. The amount of the ransom being demanded is not being released.  

Hatton says the FBI has been contacted and is investigating the attack. The library's own technology employees are also working on repairing the server.

For the time being, access to about 700 computer workstations has been affected, and items cannot be checked out of the library system's 16 branches. However, the system's websiteis still operational, so digital content such as e-books can still be downloaded.

Follow Wayne on Twitter: @wayneradio

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Wayne Pratt is a veteran journalist who has made stops at radio stations, wire services and websites throughout North America. He comes to St. Louis Public Radio from Indianapolis, where he was assistant managing editor at Inside Indiana Business. Wayne also launched a local news operation at NPR member station WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana, and spent time as a correspondent for a network of more than 800 stations. His career has included positions in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Ontario and Phoenix, Arizona. Wayne grew up near Ottawa, Ontario and moved to the United States in the mid-90s on a dare. Soon after, he met his wife and has been in the U.S. ever since.
Raack has been in radio for over 20 years. After graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1983, he worked at commercial radio stations in Kansas and then Illinois. He moved to public radio in 1990, joining the staff of WILL-AM/FM in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, as a host/reporter and then as news director in 1993. He returned to his hometown of St. Louis in 1995 as the local host of St. Louis Public Radio's