Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) experienced a critical outage on March 10 due to what Musk claimed was a massive cyberattack targeting the platform’s infrastructure. The billionaire suggested that the attack originated from IP addresses traced back to Ukraine, sparking speculation online.
During an interview with Fox News, Musk disclosed that the platform’s infrastructure underwent a coordinated disruption. While the specific details remained hazy, he stated that the attackers aimed to bring down X’s systems, resulting in widespread service disruptions that left millions of users unable to access their accounts.
Musk described the X DDoS attack as sophisticated, with multiple IP addresses associated with the Ukraine region. Nevertheless, he refrained from directly accusing the Ukrainian government or any specific threat group, hinting that a large, coordinated group or a country may have been behind the attack. He mentioned, “We are still investigating, but the source of the attack points to Ukraine.”
The claim by Musk sparked debates within the cybersecurity and geopolitical communities. Some experts cautioned that IP addresses do not always reveal the true origin of an attack, as threat actors frequently use compromised servers in different regions to conceal their identities.
A report by CNN noted that the outage began around 6 a.m. ET and affected nearly 40,000 users who reported issues with accessing X. The disruptions gradually subsided by 2 p.m. ET, and Musk confirmed in a Fox interview that the platform was operational again.
Amidst the chaos, a hacking group called Dark Storm Team purportedly claimed responsibility for the outage, with some attributing the attack to Musk’s content moderation stance related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, independent sources revealed that the attack was not politically motivated but rather a demonstration of the group’s strength.
One of the members of Dark Storm Team challenged Musk’s claim that the attacking IPs originated from Ukraine, urging him to provide evidence while warning of a potential stronger attack in the future. The group also disclosed other targets they intended to pursue, including applications of private banks, in a bid to garner attention and test their capabilities.
Cybersecurity analysts are skeptical about Dark Storm Team’s involvement in the attack, speculating that it could be a diversion for a larger state-sponsored campaign. The attack has raised concerns about escalating tensions in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, given the group’s history of targeting entities aligned with NATO and Western countries.
This incident underscores the vulnerabilities of social media platforms to large-scale cyberattacks, prompting calls for strengthening infrastructure to uphold public discourse. As investigations continue, it highlights the ongoing battle between state and non-state actors seeking to disrupt communication channels or further political agendas. Musk assured that X’s security team is diligently working to prevent future incidents.