Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#1

Post by weallfeelit » Thu, Oct 24, 2024, 11:55 PM UTC

apparently a "pro-Palestinian" group SN_BlackMeta claimed responsibility for the attack. SN_BlackMeta has previously been linked to an attack against a Middle Eastern financial institution earlier this year, and a security firm has linked it to a pro-Palestinian hacktivist movement. but what does this have to do with the Internet Archive? and even if it's not SN_BlackMeta, what's the angle? i can't imagine any citizen being opposed to one of the only sources of truth on the internet.

there's also, as always, some chatter about Big Tech or Big Govt. the question remains open. who is hacking Internet Archive, and what do they want?

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#2

Post by rossdavidh » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:45 AM UTC

1) no idea, but...

2) possible reason is not just to hack I.A. itself, but also to gain notoriety by hacking something both publicly known and not as well funded as a bank or government or whatnot

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#3

Post by Havoc » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:46 AM UTC

No idea who but it’s giving strong “this is why we can’t have nice things” vibes.

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#4

Post by ryandv » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:49 AM UTC

> i can't imagine any citizen being opposed to one of the only sources of truth on the internet.

You can't think of any incentive for compromising an authoritative source of truth and the historical record?

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#5

Post by mikelitoris » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:49 AM UTC

rossdavidh wrote: post #2

1) no idea, but... 2) possible reason is not just to hack I.A. itself, but also to gain notoriety by hacking something both publicly known and not as well funded as a bank or government or whatnot

Except people think you’re not only a lame and incompetent hacker that can’t hack anything well funded but also a real piece of shit for hacking what is essentially a struggling public resource people love.

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#6

Post by djbusby » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:51 AM UTC

And besides donating money what else can we do to help them (IA)? Make more archivers? Distributed? IPFS? How to ensure content integrity/trust?

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#7

Post by dancemethis » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:52 AM UTC

My bet is on hired thugs by Hachette.

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#8

Post by benoau » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:52 AM UTC

It's such a suspicious target IMHO, there's got to be approximately zero financial value in attacking them, the vast majority of people are unaffected by its availability or lack of, it would be an inefficient distribution platform for malware or propaganda because it's so niche.

I wonder if they actually made a mistake and hacked the wrong site.

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#9

Post by djbusby » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:53 AM UTC

benoau wrote: post #8

It's such a suspicious target IMHO, there's got to be approximately zero financial value in attacking them, the vast majority of people are unaffected by its availability or lack of, it would be an inefficient distribution platform for malware or propaganda because it's so niche. I wonder if they actually made a mistake and hacked the wrong site.

Paid a "black hat" to hack AI and they hit IA.

Re: Ask HN: Who is hacking Internet Archive?

#10

Post by rjzzleep » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 12:54 AM UTC

What an absurd claim.

Part of the atrocities being documented in gaza, the wetbank are Lebanon are documented through the internet archive. The other day the Jerusalem post removed an article called “is lebanon part of the promised land”.

The other group that has been actively involved in clearing their tracks are the pro Ukraine Warhawk media organizations both of those parties heavily supported by the US state department.