--- title: "The Real Reason Twitter Went Down Actually Sounds Pretty Embarrassing" description: "Elon Musk's evidence for the latest X-formerly-Twitter cyberattack being orchestrated by Ukraine is flimsy at best." date: "2025-03-11" modified: "2025-03-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/reason-twitter-went-down-embarrassing" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "cyberattacks" - "ddos attacks" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "twitter" --- # The Real Reason Twitter Went Down Actually Sounds Pretty Embarrassing ![Elon Musk's evidence for the latest X-formerly-Twitter cyberattack being orchestrated by Ukraine is flimsy at best.]() *\Image: Futurism\* During a [*Fox News* interview]() earlier this week, multi-hypenate billionaire and X-formerly-Twitter owner Elon Musk blamed a "massive cyberattack" that repeatedly took down the site yesterday as coming from Ukraine. But, as [*Wired* reports](), his evidence is flimsy at best. Musk claimed that "IP addresses" behind the attack originated in the embattled European nation. But as experts told the publication, that's far from actual proof. "What we can conclude from the IP data is the geographic distribution of traffic sources, which may provide insights into botnet composition or infrastructure used," connectivity firm Zayo chief security officer Shawn Edwards told *Wired*. "What we can’t conclude with certainty is the actual perpetrator’s identity or intent." One researcher claimed in an interview with *Wired* that Ukraine wasn't even in the top 20 IP addresses involved in the attack. Since then, a pro-Palestine hacking group called Dark Storm Team [claimed responsibility]() for the attacks in now-deleted Telegram posts. And considering some glaring technical oversights, the hackers seem to have had a surprisingly easy time taking down the social media platform. Security researchers told *Wired* that several X origin servers, which are designated to respond to web requests, weren't secured by the company's Cloudflare protection. Cloudflare offers services allowing websites to automatically detect and mitigate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, like the most recent cyberattack targeting X. "The botnet was directly attacking the IP and a bunch more on that X subnet yesterday," independent security researcher Kevin Beaumont told *Wired*. "It's a botnet of cameras and DVRs." Put simply, X was ill-prepared, despite DDoS attacks being an extremely common threat to virtually all services on the internet. The company's loose protections may have even allowed the incident to be far worse than it would've been otherwise. It'd be far from the first time X [has been thrown into chaos]() due to questionable decision-making and a bevy of bugs. Whether state actors were indeed behind the attack, as Musk strongly suggests, remains dubious at best. Experts suggest it's unlikely, considering the crudeness of the attack. "There are kind of two types of cyber attacks — there are ones that are designed to be very loud and there are ones that are designed to be very quiet," cyber operations Nicholas Reese [told the *Associated Press*](). "And the ones that are usually the most valuable are the ones that are very quiet." "Something like this was designed to be discovered," he added. "So to me that almost certainly eliminates state actors. And the value that they would have gained from it is pretty low." Musk has certainly made plenty of enemies with his embracing of extreme-right ideologies and plundering of the US government. The dealerships of his car company Tesla have been [targeted with protests and vandalism]() across the country, indicating a massive flare-up in anti-Musk sentiment. In other words, a DDoS attack against Musk's social media mouthpiece isn't exactly surprising, regardless of who was behind it. **More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk Has a Major Problem: Tesla Investors Are Absolutely Disgusted With Him]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()