11 october 2024 : The Internet Archive, an online repository for web pages, went offline on Thursday following a major cyberattack that exposed the data of millions of users and caused the site to be defaced. The attack, claimed by a group described as a pro-Palestinian “hacktivist” collective, highlights the growing cybersecurity risks ahead of the upcoming US presidential election on November 5.
Brewster Kahle, the founder of the Internet Archive, confirmed the organization had been targeted by multiple distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks starting on Tuesday. These attacks disrupted the site and led to a breach of user data, including usernames, emails, and passwords. Kahle acknowledged the defacement of the website and stated that they were working to strengthen security measures.
By Thursday morning, the attackers had struck again, bringing down both the main website and the “Open Library,” a catalog of digitized books. However, Kahle reassured users that the data had not been corrupted and that efforts were underway to restore services safely.
A pop-up message on the site, reportedly posted by the attackers, claimed that 31 million user accounts had been compromised. The message included a reference to “HIBP” (Have I Been Pwned), a website that allows users to check if their data has been exposed in breaches. The HIBP site confirmed that 31 million records from the Internet Archive, including emails, screen names, and passwords, were compromised.
The hacker group, known as “SN_BLACKMETA,” took responsibility for the attack on X (formerly Twitter), explaining their motive as a protest against the US government’s support for Israel, which they accused of committing genocide against Palestinians.
Cybersecurity firm Radware had previously identified the group as a “rising cyber threat,” with possible ties to Sudan and operations linked to Russia. Founded in 1996, the Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization that operates the Wayback Machine, a tool crucial for preserving internet history and assisting fact-checkers, researchers, and scholars in tracing and documenting changes to online content. Despite having no ties to the US government or Israel, the archive became a target due to its perceived association with American interests.
