122
submitted 6 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

A group linked to a pro-Palestinian hacktivist movement has launched a catastrophic cyberattack revealing the details of 31 million people, compromising their email addresses and screen names.

An account on X under the name SN_BlackMeta claimed responsibility for the attack on The Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization, and implied that further attacks were planned. The Internet Archive is known for its digital library and the Wayback Machine. 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.

Encrypted passwords were also exposed and although these are relatively safe, users have been advised to change their passwords. And one expert has told Newsweek people should avoid browsing or using any files obtained from the site until it has declared an "all clear."

top 23 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] saltesc@lemmy.world 92 points 6 days ago

I wouldn't be claiming a hack on Internet Archive. It's like boasting about setting fire to a library, almost literally.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 56 points 6 days ago

Not just any library, the fucking Library of Alexandria.

[-] Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee 51 points 6 days ago

Yeahhhh this one seems fishy. Unlike the “Handala Hacks” group (seemingly 100% an Iranian state affair) who basically doxxed Israeli citizens and security industry heads, where’s the play in this?

  • No ransomware attempt, just DDoS and data grab
  • Email and handles compromised, not major info like bank details or SSNs
  • VERY publicly pro-Palestine/Palestinian, makes zero mention of occupation, apartheid, civilian suffering, etc
  • Tortured ‘link’ between a non-profit .org and the US:Israel alliance as justification

Psyops gonna psyop

[-] Saleh@feddit.org 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yeah, seems to be about driving wedges in the progressive movements. IA is often used to access information and store proof of it. Especially when governments, newspapers etc. sneaky edit out statements that are incriminating, be it morally or quite often legally.

It is a tool heavily used by pro Palestinian and other progressive activists, with no reason to jeopardize it.

[-] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 52 points 6 days ago

So many things they could target that's related to the cause but they go for the fucking IA? Might as well burn down an orphanage. This is fucked up.

[-] Cuttlefish1111@lemmy.world 20 points 6 days ago

It’s hard to find a sufficient reason for a Palestinian to have done this. Seems likely others players had a hand.

[-] 58008@lemmy.world 36 points 6 days ago

This act is so profoundly counter to increasing pro-Palestinian sentiment that I have to wonder if it was the fuckin' Mossad that did it.

[-] asexualchangeling@lemmy.ml 22 points 6 days ago

Hacking the Internet Archive is such a fast way to lose support it feels like it must be intentional

[-] Lumisal@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago

Yeah, it's totally not Israel, the country known for being great at hacking and is attacking multiple middle eastern countries at the moment.

[-] small44@lemmy.world 29 points 6 days ago

As a pro Palestinian I condemn this action but I won't discredit the whole Palestinian support mouvement

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago

Mother fuckers.

[-] gencha@lemm.ee 6 points 5 days ago

Thanks to a bit of anonymous text on the disinformation machine of a fascist US billionaire, we finally know what's up. Thank God for this achievement in journalism.

[-] stoly@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

False flag, no way that Palestinian supporters would do this. There's simply no reason to. Someone else did for shits and giggles.

[-] gencha@lemm.ee 7 points 5 days ago

Tech-savy teenagers can pull of a "cyber attack" on a nonprofit. It doesn't have to be a smart choice. Sometimes people just want to relieve their anger, break some shit, and claim it for whatever floats their boat right now.

The evidence is absolute bullshit though. So I don't believe it either.

[-] kescusay@lemmy.world -2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Why the hell is anyone still storing actual passwords, even encrypted ones, in 2024? They should only be storing hashes and a salt that's only retrievable on the backend.

Edit: I stand corrected. Newsweek is just doing its usual shit job of reporting. They should know better than calling hashed passwords "encrypted" passwords.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 49 points 6 days ago

They aren't, newsweek is calling it encryption because they're writing for normies. The leaked data includes bcrypt'ed passwords, so hash and per-password salt. Their choice of hashing function is not what you want to criticise the IA for.

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 days ago

bcrypt, to save you time.

Anyway, I'd be curious to see that data. It also got my email that I only used for donations to IA. I wonder what data is associated with that email.
Not sure where to start searching for that data.

this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
122 points (94.9% liked)

World News

38824 readers
2244 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS