Cyber Attack on X: Experts Contest Elon Musk’s Claim of Ukrainian Involvement
The recent cyberattack on the social media platform X, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, has sparked a debate among cybersecurity experts. Musk has claimed that the attack originated from Ukraine, but several top Indian cybersecurity experts have contested this claim.
The Challenge of Tracing DDoS Attacks
- It is extremely difficult to find the exact origin of DDoS attacks
- Botnets often route attacks through devices in unrelated regions
- Spoofing techniques allow attackers to mask the true origins
- Use of proxy servers or VPNs
The distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyberattack on X disrupted the social networking site on March 10, causing widespread outages. While Musk has suggested that the IP addresses involved in the attack were traced to locations "in the Ukraine area," cybersecurity experts argue that such attacks typically involve a global network of compromised devices.
Expert Insights
"The reality of the attack is only known to the people involved in responding to the digital disruption because no details have been disclosed yet. Let us face it, it would not be far-fetched to believe that X would be subject to DDOS attacks just like any other social media platform. A pro-Palestinian group has claimed responsibility," says Agnidipta Sarkar, Vice President CISO Advisory, ColorTokens Inc. and former biocon group CISO.
"I am hoping X still has good cyber crisis managers. I guess we have to wait and watch to see if X makes an SEC disclosure or any other type of disclosure of what really happened," adds Sarkar.
Understanding DDoS Attacks
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) cyberattack occurs when multiple compromised systems flood a target server or network with excessive traffic, overwhelming it and causing it to become unavailable. The impact of a DDoS attack can be devastating for businesses, organizations, and individuals.
Consequences of DDoS Attacks
- Downtime, which disrupts online services, causing loss of revenue and damaging the organization’s reputation
- Strains IT resources, requiring costly mitigation efforts
- May be used as a smokescreen for other malicious activities, such as data theft or network intrusion
- Can lead to long-term reputational damage, especially if the business struggles to recover or experiences ongoing vulnerabilities
Conclusion
It is no surprise that companies tend to use the cyber-attack as an excuse sometimes to deflect attention from IT mismanagement. The attack on X raises several questions, including whether the attack was so severe that it overwhelmed the Anti-DDOS capability of X, how the attacker managed to disable the CDN, and why the attack happened in spurts. These questions remain unanswered.
Published On Mar 15, 2025 at 09:40 AM IST
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