In an unfortunate series of events, the Internet Archive—a cherished resource known for the Wayback Machine and a massive collection of digital content—suffered a significant Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, following a data breach. While the site is now back online, it’s only accessible in a limited, read-only format, with many services still offline.
The Impact of the DDoS Attack
On October 9, the Archive’s site was flooded with traffic from a group calling itself SN_Blackmeta, disrupting access for millions. The attack continued over the following days, prompting Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, to take the site down for maintenance. During this downtime, the Archive worked to bolster its systems and assess the scope of the damage. In the meantime, users may access the Wayback Machine, but features like file uploads and web captures remain paused.
Netscout, a network security firm, reported an unusually high volume of malicious traffic to the Archive’s servers. The attackers utilized two specific methods: TCP reset floods, which bombard a server with termination requests, and HTTPS application layer attacks, which overwhelm servers by exploiting vulnerabilities in application requests.
An Exposed User Base
During this period, the Internet Archive disclosed that a previous data breach, occurring around September 30, had compromised the personal data of up to 31 million users. The information, which includes email addresses, screen names, and bcrypt-hashed passwords, has been verified by Troy Hunt of Have I Been Pwned? (HIBP), a site that catalogs data breaches.
The group responsible for the DDoS attack has denied involvement in the data breach, claiming its actions are motivated by political protest rather than financial gain or data theft. However, the hacktivist group has promised more attacks, citing an intention to disrupt services as part of a broader web-based protest.
A Global Digital Resource Under Siege
The Internet Archive is a valuable tool for preserving internet history. Its Wayback Machine allows users to explore the early days of the internet and access snapshots of websites that have been removed or altered. Attacks on the Archive hinder its mission of preserving history and providing educational resources to the global community. Unfortunately, these cyberattacks are only one of many challenges the Archive faces. It has recently been embroiled in lawsuits with book publishers and the music industry over copyright issues, with potentially severe financial repercussions.
As the Archive works to restore full functionality in the coming weeks, it remains unclear what additional steps it will take to fortify itself against future attacks.
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