Baker & Taylor, the world’s largest distributor of books to over 5,000 public and academic libraries globally, suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted its core operations for over a week. The attack crippled critical infrastructure, including phone systems, offices, and service centers, severely hampering the company’s ability to fulfill orders and support its vast library network.With $4.6 billion in annual revenue, the prolonged outage poses significant financial and reputational risks. The company has not disclosed whether customer or employee data was compromised, but the system-wide shutdown—including servers—indicates a severe operational halt. Baker & Taylor has explicitly stated it will not pay the ransom, opting instead to restore systems from backups, a process that may extend downtime further.The attack’s scope suggests it threatens the organization’s existence by paralyzing its primary business functions, potentially leading to loss of clients, financial strain, and long-term trust erosion among its library partners. While no direct data breach (e.g., customer/employee records) has been confirmed, the operational collapse aligns with high-severity impacts where core services are incapacitated.