Lego's BrickLink marketplace has been offline since Nov 5 due to 'unusual activity.' Lego is investigating and has no timeline for restoration.
BrickLink Outage Enters Second Week
BrickLink, the popular online marketplace for Lego fans to buy and sell parts and sets, has been offline for a week following what Lego describes as 'unusual activity' on the platform. Lego, which acquired BrickLink in 2019, took the site offline on November 5th and has not provided a timeline for its return.
The team running BrickLink has been sharing updates over the past week, including estimates of when it will be back up. It was last expected to return on November 11th, according to Jay's Brick Blog, but a statement Lego shared with the site yesterday says there is currently no estimate of when BrickLink will be back online.
Lego's Response and Investigation
Lego has not explained exactly what happened with the marketplace, but says it 'took BrickLink offline after identifying unusual activity on the platform. Our immediate priority was to secure the site, protect our members and ensure the integrity of BrickLink.' There are also no specifics on when BrickLink will return, as Lego works to contain what happened. 'Before bringing the site back online, we need to fully understand what has happened. That means containing the issue, investigating how it happened and checking for related issues.'
Historical Context: Similar Incident Three Years Ago
Three years ago, BrickLink experienced a similar issue around the same time of year, resulting in the marketplace being offline for several days due to a cybersecurity incident. Lego shut down the site 'out of an abundance of caution' after receiving a 'threat and ransom demand.' When BrickLink returned, users were prompted to change their passwords with stronger requirements, but were assured their accounts had not been compromised during the incident.
Impact on the Lego Community
BrickLink is a vital resource for the Lego community, serving as a hub for buying and selling individual pieces, sets, and custom creations. The prolonged outage has left many users unable to complete transactions or access their inventories. While Lego has not disclosed the nature of the 'unusual activity,' the decision to take the site offline suggests a serious concern for user data and platform security.
As the investigation continues, BrickLink users are advised to monitor official channels for updates and to be prepared to reset their passwords once the site is restored, as was the case in the previous incident.