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International Meteor Organization says cyberattack dealt ‘critical blow’ to website

Therecord.Media • September 16, 2026

A cyberattack has shut down the website of the premier international organization responsible for tracking meteors.

The International Meteor Organization (IMO) has continued tracking asteroids and meteor through its page , but its website now carries a static page notifying visitors of the cyberattack.

“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline,” the organization said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services. We will bring features back as they become available.”

The IMO said it prioritized restoring its fireball reporting system, which is now available to users for submissions.

The nongovernmental organization did not respond to requests for . It was founded in 1988 as a way to unite amateur and professional meteor observers and scientists.

The Belgium-based organization is scheduled to hold its annual international conference week in France.

The IMO has been instrumental in creating global standards for meteor observations and for creating a database of meteor and fireball reports that include photos, videos and telescopic data.

No hacking group has taken credit for the attack as of Wednesday afternoon.

Hackers have repeatedly targeted organizations doing research into space and U.S. agencies previously warned of cyberattacks on the space industry due to its increasing importance to the global economy.

In 2023, hackers went after the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Hawai'i and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observatory in Chile.

The American Meteorological Society was also hit with ransomware in 2023 .

The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Cyberattack Disrupts International Meteor Organization's Operations The International Meteor Organization (IMO) suffered a cyberattack that severely impacted its website and services, leaving much of its infrastructure offline. The Belgium-based nonprofit, which coordinates meteor observations globally, reported that the attack dealt a 'critical blow' to its aging systems, leading to several weeks of expected downtime. While the organization has restored its fireball reporting system, other functionalities remain unavailable as they transition to new infrastructure. The exact nature of the attack has not been disclosed, and there are concerns regarding potential data exposure. The IMO has not identified the attackers or confirmed if any data was compromised. The incident has also led to the postponement of the International Meteor Conference and delays in the publication of its journal. Experts speculate that the attack may involve ransomware, but no group has claimed responsibility. 3 sources 55

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International Meteor Organization says cyberattack dealt ‘critical blow’ to website

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