Internet Archive Finally Returns (In Read-Only Mode) After Devastating Hack

The Internet Archive came back online for users Monday evening after almost two full weeks of being unavailable following an attack on Oct. 8 that exposed the fact that hackers had stolen sensitive data from millions of users. But the Internet Archive is currently available in read-only mode, meaning that features like uploading media, borrowing books, interlibrary loans, and several other services aren’t available yet.

“The safety and integrity of the Internet Archive’s data and patrons remain our top priorities,” the Internet Archive’s director of library services Chris Freeland said in an emailed statement. “As the security incident is analyzed and contained by our team, we are relaunching services as defenses are strengthened. These efforts are focused on reinforcing firewall systems and further protecting the data stores.”

The Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, is an incredibly unique place on the web, offering both a platform to upload user-generated content like PDFs, videos, and music, as well as a space for accessing an enormous trove of historical content through its library lending program, which has itself been the subject of litigation from publishers.

The hack included email addresses, user screen names, password change timestamps, and hashed passwords, according to a report from BleepingComputer. And unfortunately, it included data on roughly 31 million people. The hackers who took credit for the attack claim to be a pro-Palestinian hacktivist group called SN_BLACKMETA which wrote on X, that the Internet Archive was targeted because “the archive belongs to the USA, and as we all know, this horrendous and hypocritical government supports the genocide that is being carried out by the terrorist state of ‘Israel.’” In reality, the Internet Archive is a private nonprofit entity that is not controlled by the U.S. government.

The site resumed accessibility to the Wayback Machine starting October 13 and Archive-It on October 17. The Wayback Machine is another essential tool for web research, archiving millions of pages on the internet, sometimes dating back over two decades. Google dumped its Cache service earlier this year and partnered with the Internet Archive to start providing links to the Wayback Machine, making the website even more valuable for looking up how a given web page may have looked over the years.

The statement from the Internet Archive thanked users for their support and patience while working through the hack. And encouraged users to follow the Internet Archive’s official blog for updates. The organization’s official social media channels, including X/Twitter, Bluesky, and Mastodon will also have updates as they become available.

The organization made reference to several other recent hacks that have targeted libraries, a depressingly common occurrence at this point. For example, the Seattle Public Library was hit with ransomware back in May and major systems weren’t restored until September.