[REVISION HISTORY]
Archive of Our Own service outage and security incident
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2026-11-07 15:47 UTC → 2026-11-07 17:35 UTC ·
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The fanfiction platform Archive of Our Own (AO3) experienced a major service disruption that escalated from has been offline since October 29 following a routine maintenance window into security breach identified as a prolonged outage. Initially expected to last 12 hours, the cyberattack. The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), which operates the site, initially estimated the outage would last 12 hours, but later updated its estimates, stating projections to suggest the site platform could remain offline for two to four weeks. The outage was linked to a security incident, which has since been identified as a cyberattack. While the organization reported that stories, bookmarks, and kudos remain intact, they could not rule out a compromise of the user database, which contains usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, and hashed passwords. Consequently, users have been advised to update any passwords that may have been reused from the site. Donor information is stored on a separate system and is reported to be safe. The outage has caused significant disruption for the community, particularly for romance readers and emerging authors who use the platform as a training ground. As the investigation into the scope of the intrusion continues, the platform expects to return to service in a “degraded or read-only state” with potential intermittent downtime. Due to the risk of credential compromise, users have been advised In response to update any passwords that may have been reused from the site. Following the outage, which began on October 29, downtime, the blogging platform Tumblr reported a significant surge in new users, including a 75 percent increase among those aged 18 to 25, as fandom communities migrate to alternative spaces.
Versions
- 2026-11-07 17:35 UTC Archive of Our Own service outage and security incident
- 2026-11-07 15:47 UTC Archive of Our Own service outage and security incident
- 2026-10-31 22:53 UTC Archive of Our Own service outage and security incident
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