A major outage on social media platform X left millions without access, but experts question Elon Musk’s claim that Ukraine-based hackers were responsible.
Downdetector, a platform monitoring website outages, recorded over 1.6 million reports of disruption on Monday. Users worldwide experienced loading issues on both the app and desktop site.
Musk suggested in an interview with Fox Business that the disruption was due to a “massive cyber-attack” originating from Ukraine. However, cybersecurity experts have cast serious doubt on his statement, saying it lacks evidence.
Professor Ciaran Martin of Oxford University, former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, dismissed Musk’s claim as “wholly unconvincing” and “pretty much garbage.” He suggested the outage was likely caused by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack—an old but effective hacking technique that floods a server with internet traffic to disrupt access.
“It’s not that sophisticated,” Prof Martin said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I can’t think of a company the size of X that has been taken down by a DDoS attack in a very long time.” He added that the incident raises concerns about X’s cybersecurity measures.
Musk, a frequent critic of Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky, provided no evidence to support his claim. While he suggested a country or large group was involved, cybersecurity experts say tracing IP addresses alone proves little, as attackers can hijack devices from various locations.
Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, a company monitoring web service connectivity, said the outage was consistent with past DDoS attacks rather than an internal platform failure. “We’ve seen several major outages lasting more than six hours, each with a global impact,” he noted.
X has been a frequent target for cyberattacks, experiencing outages far more often than platforms like Facebook and Instagram. In 2023, the hacking group Anonymous Sudan disrupted X in multiple countries for hours, demanding Musk extend Starlink services to their region. In 2024, two men linked to the group were arrested.
Cybersecurity analysts report a growing number of DDoS attacks targeting major organisations, particularly tech firms, financial institutions, and healthcare providers. Sian John, chief technology officer at NCC Group, warns that any online platform is vulnerable.
“DDoS attacks are an increasingly popular tool for cybercriminals,” she said. “Businesses must stay vigilant.”
