Elon Musk: Ukraine Cyberattack on X

Aakhir Tak – In Shorts

• Elon Musk claims X faced a massive cyberattack originating from Ukraine.
• The pro-Palestinian hacker group Dark Storm Team takes responsibility for the attack.
• X experienced repeated outages on Monday, disrupting services.
• Musk stated the attack involved “a lot of resources,” raising concerns.
• Cybersecurity experts are skeptical about the scale and source of the attack.

Aakhir Tak – In Depth

Billionaire Elon Musk claimed that his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) was hit by a “massive cyberattack” originating from the “Ukraine area.” X suffered repeated outages on Monday, intermittently going offline, restoring service, and then crashing again. Musk, who also leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said, “We’re not sure exactly what happened, but there was a massive cyberattack to bring down the X system with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area,” during a conversation with Larry Kudlow on Fox News.

When asked about the platform’s status, Musk replied, “It’s up.”

The pro-Palestinian hacker group Dark Storm Team has claimed responsibility for a DDoS attack on X, according to a public Telegram channel. This group is known for targeting countries and entities that support Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which followed Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. This connection highlights the geopolitical tensions intertwined with the cyberattack.

Earlier in a post on X, Musk said that outages happened due to a powerful cyberattack. “We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved,” he said.

He did not specify what he meant by “a lot of resources,” prompting skepticism from cybersecurity experts. They noted that denial-of-service attacks have often been carried out by small groups or even individuals. The sophistication of the attack remains debated.

X suffered widespread outages, with Downdetector reporting a peak of 39,021 affected users in the US by 10 am ET. By 5 pm, the number of reported disruptions had fallen to around 1,500. This shows the initial severity and subsequent recovery.

A source within the internet infrastructure industry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told news agency Reuters that X was targeted by multiple waves of denial-of-service attacks beginning at 9.45 UTC. These attacks, which flood websites with rogue traffic, can be disruptive despite not being highly sophisticated.

The outages came as Elon Musk, who serves as an adviser to US President Donald Trump, continued to criticise Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia. Recently Musk has claimed that Ukraine’s front line “would collapse” without his Starlink satellite service but assured he would not revoke access.

Elon Musk defended his stance on Ukraine, responding to criticism on X for targeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instead of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I literally challenged Putin to one-on-one combat over Ukraine, and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army,” Musk said.

“Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose,” he added. This highlights Musk’s complex relationship with the ongoing conflict and his influence in the region.

Aakhir Tak – Key Takeaways to Remember

• Elon Musk alleges a cyberattack from Ukraine impacted X services.
• The pro-Palestinian Dark Storm Team claimed responsibility for the DDoS attack.
• X experienced repeated outages, disrupting user access on Monday.
• Musk defended his position on Ukraine, referencing Starlink’s role.
• Cybersecurity experts express skepticism regarding the attack’s scale.

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