{ "id": "d947fb66-6ba7-4211-9f5a-d895e0f6645a", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:16:44.724148Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:23:24.473133Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "d557f77a6189c67ebd82535522a606dfbe6b55a5", "title": "Internet Archive Data Breach and DDoS Attacks: What You Need to Know", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 2378420, "plain_text": "Internet Archive Data Breach and DDoS Attacks: What You Need\r\nto Know\r\nPublished: 2024-10-10 · Archived: 2026-04-05 15:05:08 UTC\r\n1. Home\r\n2. Blog\r\n3. Cyber News\r\n4. Internet Archive Data Breach and DDoS Attacks: What You Need to Know\r\n[Update] October 21, 2024: “New Breach Hits Internet Archive, API Keys and Source Code Exposed”\r\nThe Internet Archive has come under spotlight in social platforms and the cybersecurity community as news of a\r\ndata breach, exposing the personal information of 31 million users, spread across the web. To make matters\r\nworse, the service has faced continuous Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in the last two days,\r\nrendering many of its functions and the widely-used Wayback Machine inaccessible.\r\nNotice: Wayback Machine is temporarily offline\r\nThe Internet Archive, established in 1996 as a non-profit organization, has long served as a digital library for\r\nresearchers, historians, and general users. Its mission has been to provide access to a vast array of online resources\r\nfor posterity. However, the recent breach and subsequent attacks have raised questions about its security and\r\nfuture.\r\nhttps://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/\r\nPage 1 of 4\n\nIn this article, we’ll explore what led to this significant breach, how the DDoS attacks unfolded, and what users\r\nneed to know in the wake of these incidents.\r\nWhat Happened to the Internet Archive?\r\nThe Internet Archive’s popular service, The Wayback Machine, has fallen victim to a significant data breach. A\r\nthreat actor compromised the site, gaining unauthorized access to a user authentication database containing 31\r\nmillion unique records.\r\nAfter the site recovered from an initial wave of DDoS attacks on October 8, visitors began seeing a JavaScript\r\nalert left by the hacker. The message read: “Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is\r\nconstantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on\r\nHIBP!”\r\nAlert shown on archive.org after breach\r\nData Is Currently Available on Have I Been Pwned\r\nThe threat actors behind the Internet Archive breach remain unidentified, but the stolen authentication database\r\nwas shared with security researcher Troy Hunt nine days ago, according to BleepingComputer.\r\nAfter verifying the data by contacting affected users, Hunt initiated a disclosure process with the Internet Archive,\r\nstating the breached data would be available on Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) within 72 hours.\r\nAccording to HIBP’s breach summary, the stolen database includes 31 million unique email addresses, bcrypt-hashed passwords, screen names, and other data.\r\nBreach information on Have I Been Pwned (HIBP)\r\nThe database, a 6.4GB SQL file named “ia_users.sql,” contains records with the most recent timestamp from\r\nSeptember 28, 2024, likely marking when the breach occurred. However, it remains unclear how the threat actors\r\nbreached the Internet Archive and whether any other sensitive data was compromised.\r\nIn light of such security breaches, leveraging tools like SOCRadar’s Breach Dataset module can be a critical\r\npart of the response. By continuously monitoring compromised datasets across the dark web, you can quickly\r\nidentify if any credentials, such as those exposed in the Internet Archive incident, have been leaked. Additionally,\r\nusing Dark Web Monitoring services helps track threat actor activity surrounding data breaches, enabling a more\r\ncomprehensive defense against cyberattacks.\r\nSOCRadar’s Breach Datasets module page\r\nThese modules, coupled with SOCRadar’s Alarm systems, equip your organization with the intelligence needed\r\nto protect sensitive information, ensuring that unauthorized access is detected early and handled before it leads to\r\ngreater compromise.\r\nDDoS Attacks Start Targeting Internet Archive\r\nhttps://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/\r\nPage 2 of 4\n\nThe Internet Archive came under a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack on October 8, which has been\r\nclaimed by the hacking group BlackMeta a day later. While it is suggested that the DDoS attack is unrelated to the\r\nrecent security breach, the group has announced plans for additional attacks.\r\nBlackMeta took to social platform X, claiming their success, stating, “We have been launching several highly\r\nsuccessful attacks for five long hours and, to this moment, all their systems are completely down.”\r\nTweet by BlackMeta threat group (X)\r\nWho Is BlackMeta? Why Was Internet Archive Targeted?\r\nBlackMeta, also known as SN_BlackMeta or DarkMeta, is a pro-Palestinian hacktivist group that emerged in\r\nNovember 2023. The group has previously claimed responsibility for cyberattacks targeting organizations in\r\nIsrael, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.\r\nIn an additional statement on X, BlackMeta cited political motivations for their DDoS attacks on the Internet\r\nArchive, protesting that it belongs to the United States. They accused the U.S. government of supporting actions\r\nby Israel, framing their attack as a protest in the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.\r\nDespite their claims, it’s important to note that the Internet Archive is a non-profit organization, independent of\r\nthe U.S. government.\r\nThe Breach’s Influence on Hacker Landscape\r\nThe Internet Archive breach has caught the attention of various hacker groups, sparking conversation on platforms\r\nlike Telegram. Notably, LulzSec has shared messages from DarkMeta, about the claims of conducting successful\r\nDDoS attacks against the Archive.\r\nIn the forwarded messages, DarkMeta boasted about disabling services for hours during multiple attack waves.\r\nThe first round of attacks reportedly lasted four hours on October 8, 2024, followed by a second wave on October\r\n9, lasting six hours.\r\nTelegram message forwarded by LulzSec threat group\r\nThe Archive’s Response to Ongoing DDoS Attacks\r\nBrewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, addressed the ongoing incidents via social platform X,\r\nconfirming the DDoS attacks and outlining the Archive’s current actions.\r\nKahle noted that they managed to fend off the initial wave of attacks, which included the defacement of their\r\nwebsite through a compromised JavaScript library and the breach of usernames, email addresses, and salted-encrypted passwords.\r\nIn response, the Archive disabled the affected JS library and began scrubbing systems while upgrading their\r\nsecurity measures.\r\nTweet by Brewster Kahle briefly stating what they know about the breach (X)\r\nhttps://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/\r\nPage 3 of 4\n\nHowever, in a follow-up tweet today, Kahle announced that the “DDoS folks are back,” leading to the offline\r\nstatus of archive.org and openlibrary.org. It is stated that they are prioritizing securing the data they host, at the\r\ncost of temporary service downtime.\r\nA second tweet clarifies that the DDoS attacks are ongoing (X)\r\nNew Breach Hits Internet Archive, API Keys and Source Code Exposed\r\nThe Internet Archive has experienced another breach, with users recently receiving a concerning email from the\r\nhacker behind the incident. This email was sent through the Archive’s authorized Zendesk server, further proving\r\nthe extent of the breach.\r\nThe hacker revealed that exposed API keys were not rotated despite the Archive being informed of the breach\r\nweeks prior. This includes a Zendesk token granting access to over 800,000 support tickets, dating back to 2018,\r\naffecting users who submitted removal requests or inquiries to info@archive.org.\r\nThreat actor’s message (X)\r\nAccording to reports, the breach began when the hacker found an exposed GitLab configuration file on one of the\r\norganization’s servers. This file, exposed since December 2022, allowed the hacker to download the Archive’s\r\nsource code. Also, based on the hacker’s clarifications, it has been confirmed that the breach is unrelated to the\r\nDDoS attacks on the Archive, and were conducted by an entirely different threat actor.\r\nThe Archive posted an ‘insider report‘ two days ago, detailing their ongoing efforts to secure their systems, stating\r\nthat teams are working tirelessly to prioritize user safety.\r\nAs the Internet Archive works to address these challenges, important updates on their efforts to secure data and\r\nrestore services will be added to this article as they become available. Stay tuned for the latest developments.\r\nSource: https://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/\r\nhttps://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/\r\nPage 4 of 4", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MISPGALAXY", "Malpedia" ], "references": [ "https://socradar.io/internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks/" ], "report_names": [ "internet-archive-data-breach-and-ddos-attacks" ], "threat_actors": [ { "id": "d93f6788-b81a-4307-9ad1-b7944ea75250", "created_at": "2024-11-03T02:00:03.651869Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T02:00:03.743143Z", "deleted_at": null, "main_name": "Blackmeta", "aliases": [ "SN Blackmeta" ], "source_name": "MISPGALAXY:Blackmeta", "tools": [], "source_id": "MISPGALAXY", "reports": null } ], "ts_created_at": 1775434604, "ts_updated_at": 1775791404, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/d557f77a6189c67ebd82535522a606dfbe6b55a5.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/d557f77a6189c67ebd82535522a606dfbe6b55a5.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/d557f77a6189c67ebd82535522a606dfbe6b55a5.jpg" } }