A hacktivist group launched a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine last week, causing significant disruptions. As a result of this cyberattack, data from over 31 million user accounts were compromised, marking a major incident for the widely-used digital archiving service.
Efforts are underway by the site’s administrators to restore full functionality, though the recovery process is expected to take some time. Despite round-the-clock work, the site is still not fully operational, and users will need to wait a bit longer before things return to normal.
DDoS Attack on Internet Archive Disrupts Services, Compromises 31 Million User Accounts
In the interim, the Wayback Machine has been brought back online in a limited capacity. Users can access archived web pages but won’t be able to see any new additions, as the platform currently isn’t archiving fresh content. This read-only version still allows people to browse past archives, which is a core feature of the service.
For those who have accounts with the Internet Archive, it’s advisable to prepare for the site’s full return by planning to update passwords. This step will help protect users’ personal information, particularly after the data breach caused by the attack.
