Elon Musk claims ‘X cyberattack originated in Ukraine’ after website went down
Twitter owner Elon Musk has claimed that IP addresses linked to the earlier “cyberattack” against X “originated in the Ukraine area”.
The social media site went down a number of times on Monday (March 10). Earlier, owner Musk confirmed that the site was battling against a “massive cyberattack” and he suggested a “country was involved”.
Now, speaking on Fox Business television in the US, he claimed it originated in Ukraine. The 53-year-old said: “We’re not sure exactly what happened but there was a massive cyberattack to try to bring down the X system, with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area.”
He then confirmed that X was back up and running. Musk did not give any details on potential motivation behind the attack, or if it was linked to the Ukrainian government.
(Image: Getty Images for The New York Times)
Of course, it is very possible that those behind the apparent attack were masking their IP addresses and spoofing locations, with a VPN, for example.
Earlier on Monday, the billionaire Tesla owner took to the platform to address the ongoing issues.
He said: “There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …”
The issues appeared to begin around 6am ET, before returning for more users at around 10am. More than 40,000 users reported being affected.
However, according to CNN, the controversial figure has a history of blaming technical snags on cyberattacks. In August 2024, when his conversation with Donald Trump on X started 42 minutes late, he claimed there was a “probability” of an attack.
CEO of cybersecurity network CyberSheath Eric Noonan told the outlet that it is likely too early to confirm if it was a cyberattack. Noonan said: “One of the things that should always be taken with a grain of salt is any statements made in the short period of time, immediately after, or even in this case during an attack.”
Musk bought X, changing its name from Twitter, in 2022. As well as switching its name – although many still refer to it as Twitter – he brought in a number of other changes.
The businessman laid off top bosses and around 80% of its total staff.
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