Wayback Machine is back up and running after cyberattack, but on a limited basis

The Wayback Machine is back in operation with restrictions this Monday (14). After being the target of a denial of service (DDoS) attack that took the site offline last week. The platform also recently suffered a security breach that compromised the data of 31 million users.

This time, the site is only available in “reading mode,” meaning visitors can access older versions of pages by querying the archive containing more than 916 billion records. It is still not possible to send copies to the collection..

@internetarchive‘s Wayback Machine has been summarized in a temporary, read-only format.

Sorry, there’s no Save Page Now option yet.

It is safe to maintain but may need further maintenance; In this case it will be suspended again.

Please be kind https://t.co/sb5tlvxQ26

As in more.

— Brewster Kahle (@brewster_kahle) 14 October 2024

According to Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, the page was taken offline so the team at the organization responsible for the service could review the collection and harden the system against future cyberattacks. Despite, warns that the site may be taken offline againif necessary.

“It is safe to continue, but further maintenance may be needed, in which case it will be suspended again”, Kahle explained in her profile on X. The platform was also able to regain access to collaborators’ email accounts and their followers for the National Libraries.

Secure collection

In her other posts, Kahle gave good news to those who access the service, which was created in 1996 and has been open to the public since 2001. According to him, The massive digital collection maintained by the nonprofit remains intact During a cyber attack.

The founder also updated the site’s recovery program, stating: Estimated deadline for Wayback Machine to be fully operational again is now “days, not weeks”It is available to users with all its functions.

Recently, Google started showing links to websites archived on the platform in its search results. makes it easier to find older versions of pages or view sites that no longer exist. At the beginning of the year, the Mountain View giant stopped showing its own cached page links.