'Massive cyberattack': Elon Musk says X experiencing major onslaught

The popular social media site X, run by billionaire Elon Musk, is the victim of a "massive cyberattack" Monday, leaving users worldwide in a state of uncertainty. In a post at 1:25 p.m. Eastern, Elon Musk revealed that X was under siege from a group of hackers who had launched a coordinated attack on the platform using IP addresses originating from Ukraine.

"There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X," Musk stated, emphasizing the scale and sophistication of the assault. "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. Tracing and understanding what happened will take some time."

Monday afternoon, Musk shared more details about the attack with Fox Business's Larry Kudlow. He revealed that X had been hit by a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack aimed at disrupting the platform's services. The hacking group responsible for the assault, known as the "Dark Storm Team," has gained notoriety for its advanced cyber warfare tactics and successful hacks of high-security systems.

Reports from around the world confirmed that X users in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and India were experiencing intermittent outages. According to Newsweek, more than 40,000 users in the U.S. reported issues on Monday at the peak, as monitored by Down Detector. The site's outage was described as "major and global" by The Independent.

Cloudflare, a cybersecurity firm, identified the obvious signs of a DDoS attack: when a website or service suddenly becomes slow or unavailable. This phenomenon occurs when millions of queries are directed simultaneously to one website, overwhelming its resources and disrupting its functionality.

The Dark Storm Team has been linked to a pro-Palestinian focus, according to Orange Cyberdefense. The group promised cyberattacks on various sites involving NATO countries, Israel, and nations that support Israel in recent times. With its impressive track record of successful hacks, the Dark Storm Team has become a name feared within the cybersecurity community.

Elon Musk's own account was surprisingly quiet during the attack, with no mention of the outage on his social media platform. Earlier in the day, he posted that X is "the top source for news on Earth," highlighting the importance of his platform to users worldwide.

"More than 40,000 users reported issues at the peak according to Down Detector," said Bob Unruh, WND's journalist who joined the outlet in 2006. He has been covering various topics, including legislative battles and sports, as well as more recent events like tornadoes and survivalists.

"As a photographer, I've seen firsthand how crucial reliable news sources are in today's fast-paced world," Unruh added. "The outage on X highlights the importance of security measures to prevent such incidents in the future."