Internet Archive announced that it has temporarily suspended its services due to a major cyber attack and data breach it suffered at the beginning of the week. Brewster Kahle, the founder of the institution, stated that the platform is expected to be operational again in a few days. While the attack was carried out using the DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) method, it was also confirmed that there was a data breach and information about more than 31 million e-mail addresses was leaked.
The fact that the platform is currently inaccessible has caused popular tools such as the Wayback Machine to not work. When users try to log in to the site, they encounter a “temporarily closed” message. Kahle said on Twitter: “The data is safe. We are reviewing and strengthening our services. A brief interruption is required, but it was necessary. “Our work continues and we will be active again within days,” he said.
User data leaked: Warning from Troy Hunt
Following the attack, Troy Hunt, a well-known security expert and founder of the “Have I Been Pwned” platform, shared important information about the attack. Hunt confirmed that the files delivered to him included leaked email addresses and other sensitive data. This data includes details such as email addresses, usernames, password change timestamps. Users registered on Hunt’s platform will be able to receive alerts to check whether their data is among the leaked information.
Internet Archive officials stated that extensive work was carried out to make their systems more secure after the cyber attack. It is stated that the services were temporarily shut down in order to mitigate the effects of DDoS attacks and detect new security vulnerabilities. Although authorities do not give an exact date for when services will fully return to normal, they emphasize that this process is expected to be completed within a few days.
This development once again revealed how sensitive platforms such as the Internet Archive, which keeps digital archiving and historical records of the internet, are to cyber security. In particular, the closure of the Wayback Machine negatively affected many researchers and users. While data protection measures are expected to be increased after security breaches, users are also recommended to review their own account security.