Internet Archive data breach exposes millions' information
The Internet Archive is a project that collects archived versions of web pages. Recently, its service was hacked, leaking data from tens of millions of registered users, including email addresses.
9:19 AM EDT, October 11, 2024
"Internet Archive services are temporarily offline. Please check our official accounts, including Twitter/X, Bluesky or Mastodon for the latest information. We apologize for the inconvenience," reads the message currently visible to users visiting the Internet Archive website.
Founded as a non-profit organization in 1996 by programmer Brewster Kahle, the Internet Archive is renowned for its "Wayback Machine." This tool allows users to see how websites appeared and what content they featured in the past. It also stores copies of images and books, effectively serving as an "internet archive" with resources encompassing 700 billion pieces of internet content.
Internet users' data leaked online
According to Bleeping Computer, which was the first to report on the hacking incident, the data leak occurred at the end of September. Hackers released a file online weighing 6.4 gigabytes, containing data of registered users, including email addresses, passwords encrypted with Bcrypt, screen names, and other internal information.
"It is not known how the threat actors breached the Internet Archive and if any other data was stolen," the service reports.
Additionally, the Internet Archive suffered a hacker attack a few days ago. This time, it was a DDoS attack—a cyberattack from multiple computers simultaneously—apparently carried out by the group BlackMeta.
"While the Internet Archive is facing both a data breach and DDoS attacks at the same, it is not believed that the two attacks are connected," emphasizes Bleeping Computer.
