Archive.today Implicated in DDoS Attacks and Suspected Russian IP Harvesting via JavaScript
Community suspicion centers on archive.today loading JavaScript and pixels from Russian sites like mail.ru, lamoda.ru, and vk.com. This practice is feared to compromise users' IP addresses for state actors.
A sharp conflict erupts over whether archive.today deliberately conducts a DDoS attack against gyrovague.com using its users as proxies via malicious JavaScript (A_norny_mousse). Counterarguments exist; one side points out that Gyrovague's initial post actually endorsed archive.today, and that prior 'doxxing' claims failed (Hamartia, A_norny_mousse in HN).
The weight of the discussion points to deep distrust regarding data security and potential malicious activity. The key fault lines are between accusations of state-sponsored data harvesting via Russian endpoints and defenses claiming the allegations are massive overreactions.
Key Points
#1Suspicion of Russian Tracking
Users are worried archive.today loads scripts from mail.ru and other Russian domains, risking IP compromise by state actors.
#2DDoS Allegations
A_norny_mousse accuses archive.today of initiating a DDoS attack against gyrovague.com by executing JavaScript on its CAPTCHA page.
#3Defenses of Archive.today
Some users noted that Gyrovague initially endorsed the service, and that prior 'doxxing' allegations were ineffective.
#4Technical Mitigation
nullroot suggested users employ ublock filters as a technical way to block the alleged DDoS attack without participating in the conflict.
#5Alternative Archiving
A_norny_mousse recommended archive.org and ghostarchive.org as alternative, safer services to bypass paywalls.
Source Discussions (4)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.