Cultural Institutions and Cyber Criminals

[ownedbycats]

Since the title was too long for a thread title:

Internet Archive hack a signal that cultural institutions are cyber criminals' newest target

According to Victoria Lemieux, a professor of archival science at the University of British Columbia, this attack reflects a concerning trend.

"In the past year, there has been a notable rise in cyberattacks targeting libraries, typically in the public sector," said Lemieux.

A cyberattack on the Calgary Public Library on Oct. 11 forced all of its 22 branches to shut down. In April, a hacker targeted libraries in British Columbia and warned that user data will be exposed unless a ransom was paid. And in October 2023, hackers disrupted services and stole employee data from the Toronto Public Library.

Lemieux says places in the GLAM sector — galleries, libraries, archives and museums — have become more susceptible to sophisticated hacking attempts. But compared to other sectors, like banks, their security infrastructure is not as robust.

"Hackers have figured out that municipalities and cultural institutions don't have the money to upgrade their infrastructure…. They don't have sophisticated technical staff," she said.

"They're sitting ducks."

[ownedbycats]

In the classic Star Trek episode The Lights of Zetar, an unknown space phenomenon (referred to as a 'storm') attacks the Enterprise, before proceeding on course to a library installation on a nearby planet.

At one point, Mr. Spock mentions that during the construction of the library complex, shielding was deemed unnecessary because the information in the library was freely available to all and that shields were considered "inappropriate to its totally academic purpose."

Captain Kirk then says "Wonderful. I hope the storm is aware of that rationale."

When the "storm" reaches the library installation, it then proceeds to kill everyone there and damage the archives.

[jackm8]

Fairly new case as well: https://english.sta.si/3356749/major...ware?q=maribor

I think that main issue is just that they're easy targets.