The Internet Archive is the victim of a cyberattack in which the authentication database containing 31 million user credentials was compromised. The incident became known through a Javascript warning on the website.
The Internet Archive, known for its “Wayback Machine,” has suffered a serious security incident. An attacker compromised the website and stole a database containing authentication information for 31 million users. The incident came to light on Wednesday afternoon when visitors to the archive.org website saw a JavaScript warning indicating the attack, Bleepingcomputer reports.
The stolen database, a 6.4 GB SQL file called “ia_users.sql”, contains email addresses, screen names, password change timestamps and Bcrypt hashed passwords of registered members. Security researcher Troy Hunt, operator of the “Have I Been Pwned” (HIBP) service, confirmed the authenticity of the data.
Some of the affected users, including cybersecurity researcher Scott Helme, confirmed that the information contained in the database matched their own data. Helme explained that the hashed password value in the database matches the value stored in his password manager.
It is currently unclear how the attackers were able to break into the system and whether other data was affected. Bleepingcomputer attempted to reach the Internet Archive for comment but has not yet received a response.
Also read: A new study from Sailpoint shows that many companies are still at the beginning of their identity security journey. While some are already making progress, the full potential often remains untapped.
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