An unusually powerful outage hit X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, disabling the service for thousands of people around the world. The massive blackout, which sent people flocking to rival service Threads, stopped users from seeing and posting tweets on the app and website.
X owner Elon Musk said the outage was caused by a ‘massive cyberattack’ done by a ‘large, coordinated group’ or a country with ‘a lot of resources’. Musk then sensationally claimed that the attack originated in Ukraine, ‘with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area’.
However, experts have different opinions on the origin of the cyberattack. Jake Moore, a security advisor at ESET, mentioned that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the attack without more information. Megha Kumar, head of geopolitical risk at CyXcel, also emphasized the need for more information before jumping to conclusions.
Despite Musk’s claims, some experts like Allan Liska from Recorded Future and Ciaran Martin from Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government find Musk’s explanation unconvincing. They believe there is no concrete evidence to support the theory that the attack originated from Ukraine.
Overall, the outage has sparked debates and discussions among cybersecurity experts about the nature and origin of the cyberattack. As investigations continue, the true source of the outage remains uncertain.