X was the victim of a gigantic cyberattack, which caused global outages with millions of users unable to use the platform. The outage began in the morning hours of the day and continued throughout the day, with various waves of outages being felt across the globe. The owner of the website, Elon Musk, confirmed the attack was widespread in nature and said it likely was coordinated by a well-funded group—a big hacking group or maybe a nation-state.
The outages, which peaked at over 40,000 reports on Downdetector, made it impossible for users to log in, watch content, or interact on the website. Many encountered error messages by Cloudflare, indicating server connectivity issues. Of the initial reports, 56% were related to the X mobile app, while 33% were related to its website.
Timeline of Incidents and User Complaints
There were several waves of the cyberattack:
5:30 AM ET – The accessibility issues began to be reported by users in various regions.
10:00 AM ET – A second outage happened, with many unable to load posts or interact with content.
12:30 PM ET – A third major spike in complaints happened, one of the most severe disruptions X has faced in the last several months.
Users flooded other social media platforms, including Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, with posts regarding the outages and calling for status reports. Most expressed annoyance at the recurring technical issues with X, while others questioned whether the outages were the work of a massive cyberattack.
The hacking collective called the “Dark Storm Team” took credit for the attack, reports said. The attack seems to be a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, in which a huge amount of traffic is targeted at the servers of a platform in an effort to take it down. The technical teams of X are in the process of tracing the source of the attack in real time and working towards complete restoration.
Elon Musk, addressing the issue on X, stated:
There was (still is) a gigantic cyberattack on X. We are attacked every day, but this was with heavy resources. Either a big coordinated group or a nation is behind it. Tracing.
This is not the first time X has been targeted by hackers. In August 2023, a group called “Anonymous Sudan” executed a DDoS attack against the platform, allegedly attempting to pressure Musk into providing Starlink services in Sudan. While there is no confirmed connection between the current attack and Anonymous Sudan, cybersecurity experts note that X remains vulnerable to well-coordinated cyber threats.
In response to the disruptions, a number of users switched temporarily to other platforms such as Threads by Meta, Bluesky, and Mastodon. The platforms were still up, allowing displaced users to interact with one another and vent their frustration. The experience illustrates how quickly users can migrate to competitors in the face of prolonged disruptions, which can have lasting repercussions for X’s engagement and revenue.
Financial experts have also warned of the economic impact for X, as prolonged outages can undermine the confidence of advertisers. Brands and influencers relying on X for advertising and engagement have been concerned about the stability of the platform.
This attack also raises concerns about the overall cybersecurity landscape, particularly for the large social media platforms. Experts say such large scale DDoS attacks are becoming more sophisticated, backed by well-funded groups or states.
Dr. Emily Carter, a UK cybersecurity expert, said:
Social media sites like X are most at risk for hacking due to their huge user bases and global reach. The ability of a hacking group to create such disruptions underscores the need for more effective defenses. Governments along with cybersecurity firms are urging sites such as X to secure their systems, implement AI-based threat detection, and increase the number of cybersecurity experts in an effort to prevent future disruptions.
