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Hacking & intrusion

AO3 security incident shuts down service amid fears of member data theft

First reported · Last reported · 15 related reports

Fan works platform Archive of Our Own (AO3) discovered evidence of a security incident, suspended its service and began investigating and restoring operations. On 30 October, its administrators said recovery could take two to four weeks. Works and bookmarks were preserved, but they could not rule out the theft of a member database containing usernames, email addresses, IP addresses and password hashes.

Key facts

Affected organisation
Archive of Our Own
Incident type
Hacking & intrusion
Occurred / detected
Not confirmed
Scale of damage
Service outage and possible theft of the member database
Cause / method
Not confirmed
Location
United States

If your data was exposed

Exposed dataUsernameEmailPassword

  1. Change your password, and also change it on any other site where you use the same one. Turn on two-factor authentication if available.
  2. Don’t tap links in texts, calls or emails that mention this incident and offer compensation, refunds or breach checks. Check directly on the organisation’s official website or app.

Timeline

  1. Administrators announced a service suspension for a security incident investigation, an estimated recovery time of two to four weeks, and the possible theft of the member database.
  2. The service remained unavailable while the possibility of member database theft remained unresolved.

15 related reports

The summary and key facts are written by AI from related reports and may contain errors. Check the original articles and the organisation’s official statements for accurate details.