The Internet Archive is back as a read-only service after cyberattacks


The Internet Archive is back online in a read-only state after a cyberattack brought down the digital library and Wayback Machine last week. A data breach and DDoS attack kicked the site offline on October 9th, with a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records also stolen in recent weeks.
The Internet Archive is now back online in a “provisional, read-only manner,” according to founder Brewster Kahle. “Safe to resume but might need further maintenance, in which case it will be suspended again.”
While you can access the Wayback Machine to search 916 billion web pages that have been archived over time, you can’t currently capture an existing web page into the archive. Kahle and team have gradually been restoring Archive.org services in recent days, including bringing back the team’s email accounts and its crawlers for National Libraries. Services have been offline so that Internet Archive staff can examine and strengthen them against future attacks.
A pop-up from a purported hacker claimed the archive had suffered a “catastrophic security breach” last week, before Have I Been Pwned confirmed data was stolen. The theft included email addresses, screen names, hashed passwords, and other internal data for 31 million unique email accounts.
The Internet Archive outage came just weeks after Google started adding links to archived websites in the Wayback Machine. Google removed its own cached pages links earlier this year, so having the Wayback Machine linked in Google search results is a useful way to access older versions of websites or archived pages.
The Internet Archive is back online in a read-only state after a cyberattack brought down the digital library and Wayback Machine last week. A data breach and DDoS attack kicked the site offline on October 9th, with a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records also stolen in recent…
Recent Posts
- The end of an era? TSMC, Broadcom could tear apart Intel’s legendary business after 57 years by separating its foundry and chip design
- Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 LIVE: Fight stream, cheapest PPV deals, how to watch light-heavyweight title rematch
- Spotify HiFi was announced four years ago, and it’s almost here — maybe
- AT&T will let you split your bill with people on your plan
- Sandisk’s revolutionary new memory promises DRAM-like performance, 4X capacity at half the price
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010