Next cyberattack on the Internet Archive: access to countless emails
The Internet Archive has been under attack for weeks and the wave continues. Unknown persons continue to have access to parts of the email systems.
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The Internet Archive is still under attack. According to The Verge and entries on Reddit, unknown persons apparently gained access to the organization's systems and sent masses of emails on Sunday. These were sent to addresses used to contact the Internet Archive. The emails complained that the Internet Archive was still not taking thorough enough action against the cyber attack. It concludes: "We hope that they can now pull themselves together."
Many backgrounds still unclear
The Internet Archive itself has yet to comment on the latest incident. According to the emails, the text of which has been made public by The Verge, the unknown persons have access to the Internet Archive's Zendesk account thanks to an access token that has not been invalidated. According to them, this allows them to view more than 800,000 support requests – and answer – that have been sent to info@archive.org since 2018. According to the emails, it is the Internet Archive's fault that the token is still valid. This is the only reason why the information could have fallen into the hands of "some guy": "If not me, then someone else."
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The Internet Archive has been targeted by unknown attackers since the beginning of the month. Among other things, they managed to steal 30 million user data from the organization. A Russian hacker group is probably behind this. There was also a DDoS attack and a defacement attack, although there was probably no direct connection between the incidents. This is another reason why it is unclear who sent the emails and in whose hands the required Zendesk data is. It is also unknown why the organization was attacked so extensively in the first place.
The Internet Archive has set itself the task of preserving ephemeral data for posterity: Websites, books, but also historical software, apps and films. The non-profit organization, which is governed by US law, has amassed a huge treasure trove of data for almost 30 years. The Wayback Machine, which allows users to view old versions of websites, is particularly well-known and popular. The organization has also helped the small island state of Aruba to digitize large parts of its cultural heritage and then made the documents available on the Internet.
(mho)
