Ethical Hacking News
The Internet Archive recently suffered a major data breach that exposed sensitive information of over 31 million users, including email addresses, screen names, and bcrypt password hashes. The breach highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect user information and underscores the need for organizations like the Internet Archive to prioritize data security.
The Internet Archive was breached, exposing sensitive user information to over 31 million users.The breach included email addresses, screen names, and bcrypt password hashes.The organization has been a go-to destination for digital content preservation since its founding in 2006.The breach highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect user information.The Internet Archive is taking steps to address the breach, including displaying a message informing visitors that it was hacked.Experts emphasize the need for organizations to prioritize data security measures to prevent similar breaches in the future.
The Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library website that has been providing free access to vast collections of digitized materials since its inception, recently found itself at the center of a major cybersecurity breach. In an incident that highlights the ever-present threat of data breaches and their far-reaching consequences, over 31 million users were impacted by the breach, which exposed sensitive user information.
The breach, which occurred in September 2024, was discovered by researchers from Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) after they received a copy of the stolen data. According to Troy Hunt, the founder of HIBP, who shared details about the breach on Twitter, the stolen archive contained 31 million user records, including email addresses, screen names, and bcrypt password hashes. The most recent timestamp on the database records was September 28th, 2024, which is believed to be the date when the data was exfiltrated.
The Internet Archive, founded by Brewster Kahle in 2006, has become a go-to destination for users seeking access to digitized books, websites, software applications, music, audiovisual materials, and print materials. With over 42.1 million print materials, 13 million videos, 1.2 million software programs, 14 million audio files, 5 million images, 272,660 concerts, and over 866 billion web pages in its Wayback Machine, the organization has played a pivotal role in preserving digital content for future generations.
However, the recent data breach highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect user information. The breach has also underscored the need for organizations like the Internet Archive to prioritize data security and implement effective incident response strategies. In a statement, Brewster Kahle revealed that a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack had brought the website offline on multiple occasions since Tuesday, indicating the scope of the incident.
The incident raises concerns about the potential consequences of such breaches, particularly for individuals whose sensitive information has been compromised. In this instance, over 31 million users have been impacted by the breach, with 54% of the stolen records already present in HIBP's database. The breached data includes email addresses, screen names, and bcrypt password hashes, which can be used to gain unauthorized access to user accounts.
The Internet Archive has taken steps to address the breach, with the website now displaying a message informing visitors that it was hacked. While this is a positive step towards transparency and accountability, experts have emphasized the need for organizations to prioritize data security measures to prevent such breaches in the future.
In conclusion, the recent data breach at the Internet Archive serves as a stark reminder of the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect user information. The incident highlights the need for organizations to prioritize data security, implement effective incident response strategies, and take proactive steps to mitigate the risk of similar breaches in the future.
Related Information:
https://securityaffairs.com/169643/data-breach/internet-archive-disclosed-a-data-breach.html
Published: Fri Oct 11 02:44:04 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
