St. Helena, Solano County libraries hit by cyberattack, $100,000 ransom demanded

St. Helena Public Library and several others in Solano County were targeted by a cyberattack earlier this month by hackers demanding a $100,000 ransom, officials said.

The cyberattack occurred April 5 and affected members of the Solano Partner Libraries and St. Helena network, or SPLASH, the city of St. Helena announced Friday.

Hackers threatened to release stolen data if the ransom wasn’t paid.

The network includes libraries in Dixon, Fairfiled, Suisun City, Rio Vista, Vacaville and Vallejo. Officials say they were mostly affected by the disruption of public internet access and internal record keeping

St. Helena Public Library uses a different cloud-based system for library data and officials are still investigating if it had a data leak.

“Our team is working with cybersecurity experts to investigate the source of the attack, assess the impact, if any, on our systems, and take appropriate measures to enhance our security protocols,” officials said Friday.

Anyone with a library card should monitor financial accounts as a precaution in case hackers use personal data to open new bank accounts, officials said.

Customers also should be cautious of unsolicited communications from anyone claiming to be associated with the library or investigation.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi