X Platform Hit by "Massive Cyber Attack" with "a Lot of Resources

X Platform Under Massive Cyber Attack

Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has reported a "massive cyber attack" against the platform. He claims the attack was "done with a lot of resources," suggesting the involvement of a large, coordinated group or even a country.

The attack caused widespread outages for users, with reports of inaccessibility starting in the morning and spiking again around noon local time. Downdetector.com reported that 56% of problems were reported for the X app, while 33% were reported for the website.

Musk further stated that the attack originated from IP addresses in Ukraine. However, cybersecurity experts quickly pointed out that this doesn't necessarily mean the attack originated there. They explained that compromised machines worldwide, controlled by a botnet, could be responsible, regardless of their location.

Experts also expressed skepticism about Musk's claims of state actors being involved, citing the short duration of the outages and the lack of significant value gained from such an attack. They believe the attack was more likely an attempt to make a statement, possibly with further actions to follow.

This incident follows a similar event in March 2023, when the platform, then known as Twitter, experienced glitches that caused link failures, login issues, and image loading problems.

The attack highlights the ongoing challenges faced by social media platforms in securing their infrastructure and protecting user data. It also raises questions about the potential motives and methods of attackers, and the importance of accurate information and analysis in understanding such events.