Fort Bend County Libraries suffered a major cyberattack described as the largest in the county’s history, where hackers compromised the entire library system, demanded a ransom, and forced a months-long shutdown of services. The attack exposed critical vulnerabilities, including outdated operating systems, unsupported hardware, lack of security monitoring, and publicly exposed servers. The recovery required a $5.8 million investment—$1M on new equipment, $3.8M on software, $1M on IT staff—funded by federal and county dollars, exceeding the library’s $24M annual budget by 25%. While no sensitive patron data was confirmed stolen, the incident disrupted operations for months, necessitated a full system rebuild, and prompted structural changes, including consolidating the library’s IT under the county’s central IT department. The financial and operational toll underscored long-standing cybersecurity gaps, with officials acknowledging that preemptive upgrades could have mitigated the risk.