'Why would you hack a library?': US county still struggling months after cyberattack

Successful cyberattacks on public-facing infrastructure worldwide happen several times a week - and attempted attacks occur tens of thousands of times per second, Merrill said in an email. Hackers released data of thousands of Oakland city workers last year following a cyberattack. — Photo by rivage on Unsplash

Nearly three months after a ransomware attack disrupted phone lines, computer services and WiFi across Solano County's public libraries, systems are still down with no recovery in sight - an all-too-common plight for vulnerable government agencies, experts say.

Patrons who depend on using library computers haven't had access to them since the April 5 attack, and some workers have had to find other ways to print papers or connect with other libraries, most of which still do not have working phones, library staff said.