URGENT SPECIAL REPORT: US Resources At The NIH, NLM, NCI Have Been Taken Offline

We're witnessing nothing short of a goddamn disaster unfolding in real-time, and nobody seems to be talking about it with the urgency it deserves. Right now, as you read this, one of the most critical infrastructural components of modern medicine and scientific research—PubMed—has effectively been decapitated from the internet. This isn't just some random website going down; this is the equivalent of someone cutting off oxygen to the brain of medical research worldwide.

For those who don't live and breathe in the research world, PubMed is the lifeline that connects millions of scientific papers, studies, and critical medical information to doctors, researchers, students, and patients worldwide. And right now, that lifeline has been severed.

What the hell is going on? The terrifying reality appears to be a sophisticated attack at the DNS level. Domain Name Servers are essentially the internet's address book—they translate the website names we type into the numerical addresses computers use. According to multiple sources, the domain records for PubMed have been fucking removed from internet directories. This isn't a server crash or a temporary glitch—this is a surgical excision of a vital organ from the body of scientific communication.

But hold onto your ass for the real kicker: this appears to be an inside job.

Update Digest: Current Body of External Comments About This Outage (Reddit And Other External Resources)

• There seems to be an issue with accessing government websites, particularly NIH.gov

• Some users can access the site while others can't, with mixed reports based on location, browser, and time

• A user explains this is likely a DNS propagation issue, where changes to website addresses are spreading across the internet at different rates

• Some technical users are running tests like traceroute, nslookup, and using DNS checkers to verify the issue

• There's concern this might be intentional rather than maintenance, with multiple government sites reportedly affected

• Several users express political concerns, suggesting this might be the Trump administration deliberately taking down government information sites

• Multiple people recommend downloading Social Security statements as a precaution (from SSA.gov)

• Some users are worried about the potential loss of scientific data and research hosted on these sites

• There are varying results based on whether people are using VPNs or privacy-focused browsers like Firefox with DuckDuckGo

• A few users are comparing the situation to historical events like the burning of the Library of Alexandria

Inside Job: The Betrayal No One Saw Coming

Let me be crystal clear about something that should send shivers down your spine: DNS-level attacks like this don't happen by accident, and they typically don't happen through external hacking. The level of access required to remove domain records suggests administrator privileges. Someone with authorized access to these systems made a deliberate decision to pull the plug. I know, as a long time security researcher (and I dont consider myself to have been a good one mind you), DNS Poisoning attacks have a very clear signature and behavior.

What we're looking at is almost certainly a sophisticated DNS poisoning attack, not a brute-force DDoS assault. In a DNS poisoning attack, the attacker corrupts the Domain Name System's cache, replacing legitimate IP addresses with either non-existent ones or malicious alternatives. This explains the patchwork accessibility—some DNS servers still have the correct cached information while others have been poisoned with bad data.

The especially disturbing element is that this poisoning appears to have occurred at the authoritative DNS level. Someone with privileged access likely modified the master DNS records for the NIH domains, which then propagated outward through the hierarchical DNS system. This isn't just changing graffiti on a wall—it's rewriting the fucking maps that every navigator relies on.

To execute this, the attacker would need:

1. Administrative credentials to the NIH's domain registrar account

2. Access to modify zone files on authoritative name servers

3. Knowledge of which specific DNS records to alter to maximize disruption while avoiding immediate detection

This isn't some script kiddie messing around or a garden-variety distributed denial of service attack. This required authenticated access to critical infrastructure systems. In the plainest possible terms: someone who was trusted with the keys to the kingdom appears to have used those keys to lock everyone else out.

I've spent the last several hours reaching out to contacts in the research community, and the picture that's emerging is chaotic and deeply concerning. Some users report they can still access PubMed through certain networks or from specific geographic locations, while others find themselves completely blocked. This patchwork of accessibility is actually consistent with DNS propagation patterns during an attack—as different DNS servers update at different rates, the damage spreads unevenly across the internet.

Additionally, several researchers have confirmed that emails sent to nih.gov domains are bouncing back or disappearing into the digital void. The communication networks that keep our medical research ecosystem functioning are fraying at a rapid pace.

The Cascading Shitstorm: Why This Matters Right Fucking Now

If you're thinking, "So what? Some academic website is down," then you fundamentally misunderstand how modern medicine actually functions. PubMed isn't just some repository of dusty academic papers—it's the central nervous system connecting clinical practice to cutting-edge research worldwide.

Hospital doctors in emergency rooms consult these databases when confronted with unusual symptoms or treatment challenges. Medical students rely on access to these resources to complete their education. Researchers depend on these connections to build upon existing knowledge rather than reinventing the wheel with every experiment.

As I write this, somewhere in America:

• A resident physician is unable to access critical literature on a rare condition presenting in the ER

• A cancer researcher's work has ground to a halt as they can't verify their findings against previous studies

• A patient with a rare disease hoping to understand treatment options is hitting a digital wall

This isn't just an inconvenience—this is a crisis with real human consequences that will worsen with every passing hour. The medical and scientific communities operate on a continuous information flow, and right now, that flow has been dammed.

The Deafening Silence: Where the Fuck Is the Response?

What's almost as alarming as the attack itself is the thunderous silence from official channels. As of this writing, there has been no official statement from the National Institutes of Health, no emergency response announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services, and nothing from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

This void of information creates the perfect breeding ground for panic and misinformation. In critical infrastructure scenarios, transparency isn't just good practice—it's essential for coordinated response. Yet all we're getting is digital crickets from the very institutions responsible for these systems.

The silence raises disturbing questions. Is the communication breakdown so severe that even internal coordination is compromised? Are they keeping quiet while they assess the full scope of the breach? Or, most concerning, is there pressure to downplay what's happening to avoid public panic about vulnerabilities in our critical systems?

None of these possibilities is comforting, and all point to serious deficiencies in crisis management and communication protocols.

The Vulnerable Underbelly: How We Got Here

This crisis didn't materialize out of thin air. It's the culmination of years—decades, even—of treating digital infrastructure as an afterthought rather than the critical backbone of modern science that it is.

The NIH and its associated digital resources operate on a patchwork of legacy systems, updated systems, and contracted services. This heterogeneous environment creates inherent vulnerabilities, especially at the seams where these different systems interact. Add to this the chronic underfunding of government IT infrastructure and the challenges of recruiting top cybersecurity talent on government salaries, and you have a perfect storm of vulnerability.

We've been running our scientific infrastructure on digital duct tape and prayer for too long, and now we're witnessing the brutal consequences of that neglect.

Moreover, the insider threat element exposes a profoundly uncomfortable truth: technical safeguards are only as strong as the human element behind them. All the firewalls and security protocols in the world can't protect against someone who's already been granted the keys.

Digital Triage: What Needs to Happen Right Fucking Now

While the situation is dire, there are immediate steps that need to be taken:

First, transparency is non-negotiable. The NIH and associated agencies need to come clean about exactly what's happening, the scope of the attack, and the estimated timeline for restoration. The vacuum of information is unacceptable and potentially dangerous.

Second, the technical response team needs to implement an emergency DNS flush and reset. This means:

• Securing access to the domain registrar accounts immediately

• Revoking and reissuing all administrator credentials

• Restoring authoritative DNS records from verified backups

• Implementing DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) if not already in place

• Broadcasting the corrected DNS information with minimal TTL (Time To Live) values to accelerate propagation

Third, emergency access protocols need to be established immediately. If PubMed cannot be restored quickly, temporary mirrors or alternative access methods should be made available to critical users like hospital systems and emergency medical services. This might involve publishing direct IP addresses for critical services, bypassing the corrupted DNS system entirely.

Fourth, a cross-agency cybersecurity response team should be convened with the authority and resources to not only address this specific attack but also to audit related systems for similar vulnerabilities.

Fifth, there needs to be immediate coordination with international partners and major ISPs. PubMed is a global resource, and the response should leverage global expertise while also directly contacting major Internet Service Providers to manually correct their DNS caches rather than waiting for natural propagation.

Finally, once the immediate crisis is resolved, there must be a comprehensive, no-bullshit review of how this happened and what systemic changes are needed to prevent similar attacks in the future.

The Bigger Picture: Digital Fragility in Critical Infrastructure

This attack, devastating as it is, should serve as a wake-up call that goes far beyond the scientific and medical communities. It exposes the fragility inherent in our increasingly digitized critical infrastructure.

If a resource as fundamental as PubMed can be effectively removed from the internet, what other systems are similarly vulnerable? Our power grids, water treatment facilities, financial systems, and transportation networks all depend on similar digital infrastructures with similar points of failure.

The uncomfortable truth is that we've built a society that is profoundly dependent on digital systems without investing adequately in their security and resilience. We've created single points of failure without adequate backups or redundancies. We've prioritized convenience and cost-savings over security and stability.

And now we're getting a harsh lesson in the consequences of those choices.

Call to Action: What You Can Do Right Now

While most of us aren't in positions to directly address the technical aspects of this crisis, there are concrete actions we can all take:

If you're reading this and have access to PubMed from your location, report this to help map the extent of the outage. Understanding the pattern of accessibility provides valuable data for those working to restore services.

If you work in healthcare or research and rely on these resources, start documenting the impacts of this outage on your work. This documentation will be crucial for understanding the full scope of the damage and making the case for better protections in the future.

Reach out to your representatives and demand answers and action. Public pressure can be a powerful motivator for institutional response.

Share information responsibly. In the absence of official communication, misinformation can spread rapidly. Verify what you hear and be part of the solution rather than adding to the noise.

Digital Resilience: The Path Forward

When the dust settles on this crisis—and it will eventually settle—we will face a choice. We can patch the immediate hole and return to business as usual, or we can take this as the serious warning shot it is and fundamentally rethink how we secure our digital infrastructure.

The latter path requires uncomfortable conversations about priorities, resources, and vulnerabilities. It means acknowledging that convenience sometimes comes at the expense of security. It means investing in redundancies and backups that may seem excessive until they become essential.

Most importantly, it means recognizing that in a digitally connected world, infrastructure security isn't just an IT problem—it's a public health issue, a national security concern, and ultimately, a matter of societal resilience.

The PubMed crisis is showing us, in real-time and with painful clarity, just how vulnerable the foundations of our information society really are. The only question now is whether we'll have the wisdom to learn from it before something even more critical fails.

Final Thoughts: Digital Canaries in the Coal Mine

As this situation continues to unfold, one thing becomes abundantly clear: this isn't just about PubMed or even about scientific research. This is a vivid demonstration of how quickly our digital foundations can crumble and how profound the real-world impacts can be when they do.

The attack on PubMed is a digital canary in the coal mine—a warning sign of broader vulnerabilities that demand immediate attention. How we respond to this crisis will say a lot about our readiness to face the digital security challenges of the coming decades.

In the meantime, to whoever is responsible for this attack: you've not just taken down a website, you've potentially compromised patient care, halted critical research, and demonstrated a callous disregard for human well-being. History won't look kindly on this act of digital sabotage.

And to those working to restore these critical services: godspeed. The health and wellbeing of countless people depend on your success.

Citations

1. Klemperer V, 2025 “The United States is actively under attack. NIH, NLM, NCI have all been taken offline” The Daily KOS

2. KeyFactor 2025 “What is DNS Poisoning? (aka DNS Spoofing)”

3. Singer, E 2025 “Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday” NY Times.