The Internet Archive, a digital library and repository of web pages known for its Wayback Machine, is back online after a cyberattack brought down its services last week. However, the site is currently operating in a read-only state, meaning users can access archived content but cannot capture new web pages.
Internet Archive Back Online
The attack, which occurred on October 9th, involved a data breach and a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. According to founder Brewster Kahle, a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records was stolen. This data included email addresses, screen names, hashed passwords, and other internal information.
“We are back online in a provisional, read-only manner,”
Kahle stated in a recent announcement.
“It’s safe to resume using the Archive, but we might need further maintenance, in which case it will be suspended again.”
The Internet Archive team has been working diligently to restore services and strengthen their systems against future attacks. While users can now access the Wayback Machine’s vast collection of 916 billion archived web pages, the ability to capture new pages remains disabled.
This incident highlights the growing threat of cyberattacks targeting digital libraries and repositories. The Internet Archive outage comes just weeks after Google began adding links to archived websites in the Wayback Machine, offering a valuable resource for accessing older versions of web pages.
The Internet Archive is a crucial resource for preserving digital history and providing access to information. The team’s efforts to restore services and enhance security are essential to ensuring the continued availability of this vital resource.
Source: Brewster Kahle
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