Archive.today Blacklisted: Content Tampering and DDoS Attacks Force Wikipedia's Hand
Wikipedia editors are deprecating Archive.today and adding it to the spam blacklist. This follows evidence that the site was used to direct a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack and that its operators knowingly altered archived webpage content, rendering the historical record untrustworthy.
The immediate fight pitted utility against security. Some argued that the site's usefulness for 'verifiability' was paramount (Demifriend). Countering this, other participants, including Powderhorn, stated the security risk outweighed citation needs. Furthermore, a core revelation pointed to motive: the content tampering was allegedly fueled by a 'grudge against the blogger over a post that described how the Archive.today maintainer hid their identity behind several aliases' (Demifriend).
The overwhelming weight of opinion settled on removal. The consensus points to the irreversible threat posed by the DDoS linkjacking and content fraud. The site's utility, noted even for bypassing paywalls, is deemed replaceable given the demonstrated compromises to integrity.
Key Points
#1The primary threat was dual: active cyberattack and falsification.
The community consensus rested on the site's documented use in a DDoS attack and the alteration of archived snapshots.
#2One side prioritized the site's utility as a citation source.
Demifriend championed the site's value for 'verifiability,' arguing for its continued accessibility.
#3The counter-argument focused solely on risk management.
Powderhorn argued that the proven security risk meant citation needs could not justify keeping the link live.
#4The alleged motive for tampering was personal retaliation.
Demifriend isolated the root cause: the content manipulation was linked to a 'grudge against the blogger over a post that described how the Archive.today maintainer hid their identity behind several aliases.'
#5The operational failure meant the site lost credibility.
MicroWave noted the gravity of the risk, citing that the site 'hijacks users’ computers to run a DDoS attack' and that content alteration occurred.
Source Discussions (4)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.