The Internet Archive, a non-profit organization with the colossal mission of creating a digital library of “all knowledge,” has been under relentless attack for several days. This attack, known as a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, aims to cripple the Archive’s online presence by flooding its servers with a relentless stream of fake requests.

Most people know the Internet Archive by its most popular project, the Wayback Machine. This ingenious tool acts as a digital time capsule for the internet, capturing snapshots of websites at various points in time. If a website disappears or a webpage gets deleted, the Wayback Machine allows us to access an earlier version, ensuring a historical record of the ever-evolving online world.

The Internet Archive boasts a massive collection, including:

• 835 billion web pages
• 44 million books and texts
• 15 million audio recordings (including a quarter-million live concerts)
• 10.6 million videos (with over 2.6 million television news programs)
• 4.8 million images
• 1 million software programs

The attack method involves using networks of hijacked computers, often referred to as “bots,” to bombard the Archive’s servers with millions of requests simultaneously. This overwhelming surge cripples the system’s ability to handle legitimate traffic, effectively rendering the Archive inaccessible to regular users.

Reports indicate the attacks began over the Memorial Day weekend, causing significant disruptions for several hours on Monday. The Archive confirmed the attack via its official account, stating, “Archive.org is under a DDoS attack. The data is not affected, but most services are unavailable.”

Intriguingly, the organization later revealed attempts at communication with the attackers, describing it as a “back and forth.” While the Archive implemented countermeasures to mitigate the attack, details regarding the attackers’ identities or motives remain shrouded in secrecy.

The Archive has a history of legal battles with copyright holders, including publishers and music labels, who accuse them of copyright infringement. The Archive defends its practice of archiving copyrighted material by likening itself to a library lending out physical copies. However, they have lost at least one such legal case.

Considering this history, it seems unlikely that these copyright holders are behind the current attacks. The mystery of who is behind this assault and their objectives remains unsolved for now.