Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, experienced widespread disruptions on Monday, which the billionaire attributed to a major cyberattack.
Musk claimed the platform was targeted by an unusually powerful denial-of-service (DoS) attack, suggesting that a well-coordinated group or nation-state might be responsible. However, he offered no concrete evidence to support the claim, leaving cybersecurity experts sceptical.
Many pointed out that DoS attacks, which flood websites with excessive traffic to overwhelm their servers, are commonly executed by small groups or individuals with relatively limited resources.
Reports of outages spiked early in the day, with Downdetector tracking over 39,000 complaints from users in the US at the peak of the disruption. By the afternoon, the number had dwindled significantly, though intermittent service issues persisted for some.
According to an anonymous industry source, the attack consisted of multiple waves of rogue traffic bombarding X’s servers, beginning around 9:45 UTC.
While Musk later asserted in an interview with Fox Business that the cyberattack originated from Ukraine, the same industry source disputed this claim, stating that the bulk of the malicious traffic came from various locations, including the USA, Vietnam, and Brazil, with only a minimal amount from Ukraine.
Tracing the true origin of DoS attacks is notoriously tricky, as attackers often use proxy servers and botnets to disguise their locations.
Cybersecurity specialists have noted that assigning blame based solely on IP addresses can be misleading, as they rarely indicate the actual perpetrators. Despite Musk’s insistence on a Ukraine-based origin, no definitive proof has been presented to substantiate the claim.
Musk’s comments come amid his increasingly vocal criticisms of Ukraine’s ongoing war efforts against Russia, aligning with sentiments echoed by US President Donald Trump, whom he advises.
Over the weekend, Musk suggested that Ukraine’s battlefield operations would collapse without his Starlink satellite communication system, although he clarified that he had no intention of cutting off access.
The latest controversy surrounding X’s cyberattack has further fueled speculation about Musk’s political and strategic positioning in the ongoing geopolitical conflict.
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