Internet Archive beleaguered by DDoS attacks, also hacked

As the Internet Archive was preparing to disclose a data breach, it has also been swamped by DDoS attacks.

I can not fathom what the Internet Archive has done to earn such wrath. A generally helpful service that offers everything from a snapshot of the web's past to ROMs for old video games, the Internet Archive seems to have some community mad at it.

The Internet Archive has been hit with a series of DDoS attacks this week that have taken the service offline. The Verge noticed a popup on the site today when the online database went down. The popup has since disappeared, but the site is not currently available.

According to security researcher Troy Hunt, the DDoS attack came just as the Internet Archive was preparing to disclose a previous breach of its site that resulted in the theft of more than 31 million records. Hunt, who runs the haveibeenpwned service, said that the timing of the two attacks appears to be "entirely coincidental" and that there are likely "multiple parties" involved. " It's clearly not just one attack," he wrote.

Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle has been publishing updates on the attacks on X, with the latest news simply that the team is attempting to bring the site back online. A DDoS organization known as Blackmeta claimed responsibility for the attacks with a confusing message that the platform "belongs to the USA." The Internet Archive is a non-profit headquartered in San Francisco that provides free access to a vast library of software and media, as well as hosting the Wayback Machine web archive. The message also referenced the stolen records with "HIBP" referring to Hunt's haveibeenpwned site that tracks compromised accounts.

Engadget

Previously:
Internet Archive forced to remove half a million books