Cybersecurity Impact: Internet Archive Resumes Services in Read-Only Mode
Cybersecurity Incident Overview
The Internet Archive
is back online in a read-only state following a cyberattack that took down the digital library and its Wayback Machine services. A data breach and a DDoS attack offline the site on October 9th, which also resulted in the theft of a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records.Recent Developments
Founder Brewster Kahle stated it is now safe to resume access, but further maintenance may lead to temporary suspensions of services. Users can search through 916 billion archived pages, although capturing new pages for archiving is currently unavailable.
Future Precautions
- Services are gradually being restored, including email accounts and crawlers for National Libraries.
- Staff is examining systems to enhance security against future attacks.
A warning pop-up purportedly from a hacker described the breach as catastrophic, which was later confirmed by Have I Been Pwned regarding the stolen data.
This incident follows recent changes by Google linking archived sites to the Wayback Machine, enhancing accessibility to older versions of websites.
This article was prepared using information from open sources in accordance with the principles of Ethical Policy. The editorial team is not responsible for absolute accuracy, as it relies on data from the sources referenced.