Newsworthy but not its own thread worthy

[pearldiver6]

This is quite common, I have heard. Sad and despicable, but maybe better vet anyone you might pass a little puppy of kitten on to, or don't breed your pets. The world is an imperfect place to say the least, you have to watch out for you and yours. On a different note, back in the 70's I knew a guy who kept a rattlesnake in an aquarium at his apartment. I watched him put a mouse in and the snake got it with one fang, and the other one shot out venom across the glass. It was spooky, creepy, and fascinating. But, you know, probably best not to keep vipers in your home.

[pearldiver6]

And on another one, at the same time, or decade, I knew a gal who's family kept monkeys. Fuckin' monkeys! Actually I think they might have been sugar gliders, but fuckin' monkeys! Or kinda. It was a different time.

[Gemini37]

Source: bleepingcomputer.com
Credit: Lawrence Abrams

Internet Archive's "The Wayback Machine" has suffered a data breach after a threat actor compromised the website and stole a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records.

News of the breach began circulating Wednesday afternoon after visitors to archive.org began seeing a JavaScript alert created by the hacker, stating that the Internet Archive was breached.

"Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!," reads a JavaScript alert shown on the compromised archive.org site.



The text "HIBP" refers to the Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service created by Troy Hunt, with whom threat actors commonly share stolen data to be added to the service.

Hunt told BleepingComputer that the threat actor shared the Internet Archive's authentication database nine days ago and it is a 6.4GB SQL file named "ia_users.sql." The database contains authentication information for registered members, including their email addresses, screen names, password change timestamps, Bcrypt-hashed passwords, and other internal data.

The most recent timestamp on the stolen records is September 28th, 2024, likely when the database was stolen.

Hunt says there are 31 million unique email addresses in the database, with many subscribed to the HIBP data breach notification service. The data will soon be added to HIBP, allowing users to enter their email and confirm if their data was exposed in this breach.

The data was confirmed to be real after Hunt contacted users listed in the databases, including cybersecurity researcher Scott Helme, who permitted BleepingComputer to share his exposed record.

9887370, [email protected],$2a...otthelme.co.uk,2020-06-25 13:22:52.7608520,\N0\N\N@scotthelme\N\N\N

Helme confirmed that the bcrypt-hashed password in the data record matched the brcrypt-hashed password stored in his password manager. He also confirmed that the timestamp in the database record matched the date when he last changed the password in his password manager.



Hunt says he contacted the Internet Archive three days ago and began a disclosure process, stating that the data would be loaded into the service in 72 hours, but he has not heard back since.

It is not known how the threat actors breached the Internet Archive and if any other data was stolen.

Earlier today, the Internet Archive suffered a DDoS attack, which has now been claimed by the BlackMeta hacktivist group, who says they will be conducting additional attacks.



BleepingComputer contacted the Internet Archive with questions about the attack, but no response was immediately available.

Update 10/10/24: Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle shared an update on X last night, confirming the data breach and stating that the threat actor used a JavaScript library to show the alerts to visitors.

"What we know: DDOS attacked-fended off for now; defacement of our website via JS library; breach of usernames/email/salted-encrypted passwords," reads a first status update tweeted last night.

"What we've done: Disabled the JS library, scrubbing systems, upgrading security."

A second update shared this morning states that DDoS attacks have resumed, taking archive.org and openlibrary.org offline again.



While the Internet Archive is facing both a data breach and DDoS attacks at the same, it is not believed that the two attacks are connected.

[Gemini37]

Originally Posted by Gemini37

Internet Archive's "The Wayback Machine" has suffered a data breach after a threat actor compromised the website and stole a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records.

News of the breach began circulating Wednesday afternoon after visitors to archive.org began seeing a JavaScript alert created by the hacker, stating that the Internet Archive was breached.

"Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!," reads a JavaScript alert shown on the compromised archive.org site.



The text "HIBP" refers to the Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service created by Troy Hunt, with whom threat actors commonly share stolen data to be added to the service.

Hunt told BleepingComputer that the threat actor shared the Internet Archive's authentication database nine days ago and it is a 6.4GB SQL file named "ia_users.sql." The database contains authentication information for registered members, including their email addresses, screen names, password change timestamps, Bcrypt-hashed passwords, and other internal data.

The most recent timestamp on the stolen records is September 28th, 2024, likely when the database was stolen.

Hunt says there are 31 million unique email addresses in the database, with many subscribed to the HIBP data breach notification service. The data will soon be added to HIBP, allowing users to enter their email and confirm if their data was exposed in this breach.

The data was confirmed to be real after Hunt contacted users listed in the databases, including cybersecurity researcher Scott Helme, who permitted BleepingComputer to share his exposed record.

9887370, [email protected],$2a...otthelme.co.uk,2020-06-25 13:22:52.7608520,\N0\N\N@scotthelme\N\N\N

Helme confirmed that the bcrypt-hashed password in the data record matched the brcrypt-hashed password stored in his password manager. He also confirmed that the timestamp in the database record matched the date when he last changed the password in his password manager.



Hunt says he contacted the Internet Archive three days ago and began a disclosure process, stating that the data would be loaded into the service in 72 hours, but he has not heard back since.

It is not known how the threat actors breached the Internet Archive and if any other data was stolen.

Earlier today, the Internet Archive suffered a DDoS attack, which has now been claimed by the BlackMeta hacktivist group, who says they will be conducting additional attacks.



BleepingComputer contacted the Internet Archive with questions about the attack, but no response was immediately available.

Update 10/10/24: Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle shared an update on X last night, confirming the data breach and stating that the threat actor used a JavaScript library to show the alerts to visitors.

"What we know: DDOS attacked-fended off for now; defacement of our website via JS library; breach of usernames/email/salted-encrypted passwords," reads a first status update tweeted last night.

"What we've done: Disabled the JS library, scrubbing systems, upgrading security."

A second update shared this morning states that DDoS attacks have resumed, taking archive.org and openlibrary.org offline again.



While the Internet Archive is facing both a data breach and DDoS attacks at the same, it is not believed that the two attacks are connected.

Source: bleepingcomputer.com
Credit: Lawrence Abrams

Internet Archive and Wayback Machine are back up and running!

[Easymuse]

Adult sites effectively banned in 17 states. Is it really about porn? Or a step to something else?

http://dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/3/2295069/-Adult-sites-effectively-banned-in-17-states-Is-it-really-about-porn-Or-a-step-to-something-else

[ghost2509]

'Scientists' stunning observation of hybrid 'grolar' bear sparks concern: 'Ill-suited to adapt'

msn.com
Story by Chelsea Cook
Feb 22, 2025

As Arctic ice melts and temperatures rise, an unexpected hybrid bear is beginning to shape the shifting landscape: the "grolar" bear.

Grolar bears, the offspring of polar and grizzly bears, are rare but striking consequences of climate change. While their emergence raises intriguing questions about wildlife adaptation, as GreaterGood recently covered, it also signals deeper disruptions to ecosystems that could have lasting effects on wildlife and human communities alike.

What's happening?

Polar and grizzly bears once occupied distinct habitats, with polar bears living in the Arctic and grizzly bears in tundras and forests farther south. But as the Arctic warms, polar bears are being pushed inland, where their territory now overlaps with that of grizzlies. This shift has led to the rise of grolar bears, first spotted in 2006 in the western Arctic.

Though the hybridization is still rare, experts expect it to increase as climate change accelerates. It's a stark reminder of how climate change is reshaping entire ecosystems and threatening the delicate balance on which both wildlife and human livelihoods depend.

Why is this concerning?

Due to a suboptimal combination of traits from their predecessors, grolar bears are poorly suited to both marine and land environments. This makes survival in either habitat far more difficult, drastically reducing their chances of survival.

Evan Richardson, who specializes in polar bear research, told Polar Bears International that grolar bears are "ill-suited to adapt" to the habitat of either grizzly or polar bears.

Experts warn that as climate change continues, the overlap between grizzly and polar bear habitats will expand, likely leading to more hybridization. But while grolar bears may eventually survive in transitional zones, they cannot fill the ecological roles that polar and grizzly bears play in their respective environments.

Furthermore, polar bears face the threat of starvation without sea ice, as seals, which are their primary prey, are inaccessible on land.

This has profound consequences not just for polar bears but for the entire food chain in the Arctic.

What's being done about it?

Conservationists emphasize that protecting polar bear habitats and curbing climate change are urgent priorities to maintain the biodiversity of the Arctic. The Arctic Council is advocating for enhanced conservation measures, while worldwide climate initiatives are working to curb ice melt.

There are also steps we can take as individuals to help safeguard the delicate balance of this essential and unique ecosystem. If you want to support Arctic conservation, you can look for organizations that focus on preservation in this area.