#ao3 under attack

[bloodyhellel]

So I have a question what can be the motivation of someone to choose to attack Ao3, there is nothing to get from this except irritating the fanbase of all the fandoms....Whoever this is I hate them, go find your own constructive hobbys instead of destroying ours !

[sirtouchstarved]

OKAY SO I JUST LEARNED ABOUT EIGHT MINUTES AGO THAT AO3 IS UNDER FUCKING CYBER ATTACK!?!?

Okay, so ill also link a few articles i found explaining it, but basically ao3 is under ddos (distributed denial of service) attack.

So, as far as we know, the group that has claimed the attack is “a collective of religiously and politically motivated hackers” called Anonymous Sudan. They have apparently been targeting american businesses, and they have gone after ao3 because they are “against all forms of degeneracy, and the site is full of disgusting smuts and other LGBTQ+ and NSFW things.”

BUT, ao3 themselves has cautioned not to take these people for face value, saying that they think that this attack is actually linked to Russia, and is an attempt to cause distress in the west (which personally, as I am having a heart attack over my girl ao3 being down, is definitely working).

Originally, the attack was only supposed to go on for 24 hours, but now they are saying that they will keep it going for weeks if a ransom of 30,000 US dollars is not payed.

I generally tried to summarize all that I have gathered, but if I'm wrong about anything, or missed any major spots, please correct me.

To my fellow ao3 dwelling friends, I wish you good luck in these trying times, and i send my utmost hopes and support to the beautiful beautiful people of ao3 who are going through this shit.

If anything else happens, I'll try to update to the best of my ability.

Here are some articles if you want to further look into this: https://dataconomy.com/2023/07/11/archive-of-our-own-down-ao3-ddos-attack/ https://www.cybersecurityconnect.com.au/commercial/9292-fanfic-writers-targeted-by-anonymous-sudan-in-apparent-ddos-attack-on-ao3 https://mashable.com/article/ao3-archive-of-our-own-ddos-attack-offline-fanfiction

[josilverdragon]

@ao3org already has shared many of these updates but here's the full current update as of 7/12/2023 19:20 UTC (Including screenshots in case you are unable to access.)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[vanilla88]

Grrrr I just want Ao3 back and I’m sending lots of prayers for those working to get it back up. Thank you for all you do!!!

I don’t know what to do with all this free time after work

[aliaaa03]

when i got my ass to work on my fanfic, i hear ao3 is under attack 🧐

now what...

[ppmkatie]

Sigh.

Our valiant soldiers are still fighting off the hackers.

It’s really showing me how addicted I am to reading my stories.

Sure, I have the option of many a book to be read, but my fanfics. My peeps putting their all into making me a happy human.

Keep fighting, gang!! We appreciate you!! 🥰💖💗

[ppmkatie]

Good luck, our brave soldiers!! 🥰

[chrissymbod]