Technology and Science16 September, 20263 min read
International Meteor Organization Says Cyberattack Takes Much of Website Offline
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Cyberattack delivered a critical blow, taking much of IMO's website offline. IMO rebuilding its digital infrastructure after the attack.
5 outlets told this the same way.
Website taken offline
The International Meteor Organization, a Belgium-based nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said a cyberattack dealt a “critical blow” to its ageing infrastructure and took much of its website offline. In a static page on its website on Wednesday, the IMO said, “We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline,” and it added that it expected “several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.” The IMO said it prioritized restoring its fireball reporting capability, and it told users, “If you saw a fireball or a bright light in the sky, you can still submit your observation,” even as other parts of the site remained unavailable.
Ars Technica described the outage as a “critical blow” from a cyberattack, noting that the IMO’s static page said it was transitioning to new infrastructure and services. The Record from Recorded Future News reported that the IMO continued tracking asteroids and meteor through its Facebook page while its website displayed the cyberattack notice.
What the IMO disclosed
The IMO’s visitor notice, quoted by The Register on September 14, 2026, said it expected “several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services,” and it described the current service as a stripped-down holding page. BusinessDay’s September 16 report, as framed in the West Asian article, said the weeks-long disruption expectation suggested recovery involved more than restoring access to a compromised web server, consistent with the IMO’s stated transition to new infrastructure and services. The West Asian article also said the IMO had not disclosed when the attack occurred, how the attackers gained access, or whether any data was accessed, stolen or encrypted, leaving “verified open questions” outnumbering “verified answers.”
BusinessDay’s framing emphasized that for researchers and observers who submit reports to the IMO, the lack of disclosed detection date and assessment of data impact meant they could not yet assess whether material they previously supplied was exposed. The Record from Recorded Future News added that no hacking group had taken credit for the attack as of Wednesday afternoon.
Impact on meteor reporting
Even with most of the website offline, the IMO said it kept its most time-sensitive public service running by restoring fireball reporting, which it described as the channel through which members of the public report unusually bright meteors so events can be documented and analysed. The IMO told visitors, “We prioritized restoring fireball reporting, and it is available again,” and it reiterated, “If you saw a fireball or a bright light in the sky, you can still submit your observation,” linking the restored service to ongoing observation during the disruption. The West Asian article said the practical consequence for the meteor community was a degraded observation pipeline during an active observation period, while the highest-value channel remained open.
“We prioritized restoring fireball reporting, and it is available again.”
Ars Technica noted that the IMO’s databases of reported meteor and fireball observations—made up of text, photos, and videos—are considered essential by many in the field, and it said the organization was also providing some information on its Facebook page. The Record from Recorded Future News reported that the IMO prioritized restoring its fireball reporting system, which is now available to users for submissions, as the organization transitioned to new infrastructure and services.