Key Takeaways:
- X, owned by Elon Musk, faced a massive cyberattack on Monday, March 11, 2025.
- Users worldwide, including in the U.S., U.K., France, and India, experienced outages.
- A hacking group called “Dark Storm Team” claims responsibility for the attack.
- The group is known for targeting high-security systems and has a pro-Palestinian focus.
- Musk suggests the attack may involve a large, coordinated group or even a country.
X Suffers Major Cyberattack: Users Face Outages Globally
On Monday, March 11, 2025, X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was hit by a massive cyberattack. The attack caused intermittent outages for users worldwide, with reports of issues in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and India.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, confirmed the attack in a post. He stated, “There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this one was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing…”
The attack appears to be a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, where hackers overwhelm a website with millions of simultaneous requests, causing it to slow down or become unavailable.
Who is Responsible for the Attack?
A hacking group called the “Dark Storm Team” has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. According to reports, this group is known for its sophisticated cyber warfare tactics and has successfully hacked high-security systems in the past.
The Dark Storm Team was formed in 2023 and has a pro-Palestinian focus. They have reportedly promised to target sites involving NATO countries, Israel, and nations that support Israel.
The Impact of the Attack
The cyberattack caused significant disruption to X users. At the peak of the outage, over 40,000 users in the U.S. reported issues, according to monitoring website Down Detector. The outages were described as “major and global” by The Independent.
Musk, who purchased X in 2022, did not directly address the outage on his own account. However, he did post earlier in the day, calling X “the top source for news on Earth.”
What’s Next for X?
As of now, the full extent of the attack is still being investigated. Musk mentioned that the IP addresses involved in the attack appear to originate from the Ukraine area. However, it’s unclear if this points to the attackers’ location or if it was a deliberate misdirection.
The attack highlights the ongoing challenges X faces in securing its platform. With millions of users relying on the site for news and communication, ensuring its stability and security remains a top priority.
The Bigger Picture
Cyberattacks like this are a reminder of the growing threat of online warfare. As more of our lives move online, protecting critical platforms like X becomes increasingly important.
Musk and his team have their work cut out for them as they try to identify the attackers and prevent future incidents. Meanwhile, users are left wondering how secure their data is and whether platforms like X can withstand such attacks.
Only time will tell how this situation unfolds, but one thing is certain: the battle for cybersecurity is more critical than ever.