Social media platform X went down on Monday, with thousands of users unable to access the app due to an outage which lasted for hours.
The outage was linked to a large-scale cyberattack, according to X’s owner, Elon Musk.
Elon Musk claimed the attack was more sophisticated than usual, noting that a well-coordinated group or even a nation-state could be behind it. “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 posted on X.
However, he did not elaborate on what he meant by “a lot of resources,” leaving room for speculation.
The incident was first reported around 9:45 UTC, with outage tracking site Downdetector recording a peak of over 39,000 affected users in the United States by 10 a.m. ET. Although reports of disruptions declined throughout the day, around 1,500 users were still experiencing issues by 5 p.m.
A source within the internet infrastructure sector confirmed that X was hit by multiple waves of a denial-of-service (DoS) attack.
These attacks flood websites with excessive traffic, making them temporarily inaccessible. While effective in causing disruptions, DoS attacks are not necessarily complex and can be launched by individuals or small groups.
Musk later claimed in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow that the attack originated from IP addresses linked to Ukraine.
However, this account was challenged by an expert, who stated that most of the rogue traffic targeting X came from multiple locations, including the United States, Vietnam, and Brazil. “The amount of rogue traffic coming directly from Ukraine was insignificant,” the expert noted.
Tracing the origins of such cyberattacks is notoriously difficult, as attackers often mask their locations using various methods. IP addresses alone do not always reveal the true source, making attribution uncertain.
Musk’s comments on Ukraine result from his current objection to U.S. support for the country’s defence against Russia. He recently stated that Ukraine’s frontline “would collapse” without his Starlink satellite service but assured that he had no intention of cutting off access.
Despite the impact of the outage, X has not issued any official statement explaining the cause of the disruption. While service has gradually improved, some users continue to report occasional technical issues.
