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Elon Musk blames massive cyberattack for X (Twitter) outage
Elon Musk claimed that a “massive cyberattack” caused Monday’s outage on X, while cybersecurity experts suggested that the attack was likely a variant of the Mirai botnet.
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Elon Musk has claimed that a “massive cyberattack” was responsible for Monday’s widespread outages on X (formerly Twitter), which disrupted service for thousands of users worldwide.
The outage persisted for hours, affecting individuals across multiple countries, including the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
Downdetector, a service that tracks online disruptions, reported three waves of outages throughout the day, with major spikes occurring in the afternoon and evening.
Following the incident, Musk addressed the situation directly on X.
His comments suggested that the attack was far more sophisticated than the routine cyber threats faced by the platform.
Later that day, Musk appeared on Fox Business Network, claiming that the attack’s IP addresses had been traced to the “Ukraine area.”
However, he did not provide any supporting evidence for this claim. His statement raised concerns and speculation about possible geopolitical implications, though cybersecurity experts quickly rebutted it.
Security specialists have cautioned that IP addresses alone do not reliably indicate the true source of a cyberattack.
Cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont, writing on Bluesky, attributed the attack to a variant of the Mirai botnet.
This botnet consists of compromised internet-connected devices, such as cameras and routers, and has been used in large-scale cyberattacks in the past.
According to Beaumont, the attack did not originate from a single region but rather involved compromised devices from around the world.
He also suggested that the attackers could have been “advanced persistent teenagers,” humorously implying that skilled but mischievous hackers, rather than a nation-state, may have been responsible.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts emphasize the need for caution when attributing cyberattacks, given the complexity of tracking their true origins.
What do you think about these claims from Musk? Do you think there’s any truth here or is it just another Musk claim? We want to hear your thoughts below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.
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