Internet Archive Attacked By Pro-Palestinian Hackers

The Internet Archive has been cyber attacked, exposing the data of 31 million users, compromising their email addresses and their screen names.

This attack, by a pro-Palestinian hacktivist group named as SN_BLACKMETA, highlights the cyber security threat just as the November 5 US presidential election approaches.

SN_BlackMeta has previously been linked to an attack against a Middle Eastern financial institution earlier this year, and it has been linked it to a pro-Palestinian hacktivist movement.

Founded in 1996, the Internet Archive operates the Wayback Machine, an important resource that holds millions of web pages. It works as a digital museum, enabling fact-checkers, researchers, and the public to access historical content that may no longer be available elsewhere.

However, this non-profit organisation recently became the target of a series of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks beginning on October 10.

Users reported a pop-up message claiming the data of 31 million accounts had been compromised, redirecting them to the site “Have I Been Pwned” (HIBP) to check for potential data leaks.

The cyber attackers were apparently motivated by the US government’s support for Israel.

The attack group has said: “They are under attack because the archive belongs to the US, and as we all know, this horrendous and hypocritical government supports the genocide that is being carried out by the terrorist state of Israel.”

While the Internet Archive has faced legal challenges from major publishing companies over copyright issues, the current attack appears to stem from ideological rather than purely economic motives.

I-His     |     Newsweek     |     Bleeping Computer     |     X.com
Mathrubhumi     |     Times of India

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