Outage outrage was a Ukrainian cyberattack, implies our favorite African billionaire comedy villain.
The social media platform formerly known as Twitter went offline earlier this week. It was swamped by wave after wave of distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS). Now-owner Elon Musk (pictured) has been telling everyone the DDoS traffic came from Ukraine.
O RLY? That’s “garbage,” say experts. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we never stopped calling it Twitter.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: The baked bean song.
X Marks the Botnet
What’s the craic? Ramishah Maruf, Clare Duffy, Hadas Gold and Sean Lyngaas report: X hit by waves of outages
“He laid off 80% of the staff”
Elon Musk’s X was hit by waves of outages, … which the billionaire claims was due to a cyberattack … originating in Ukraine: “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.” Musk did not give any further details about the origin of the attack.
…
Though the source of motivation behind the attack wasn’t confirmed, Musk [suggested] people are trying to silence the billionaire and his platform. … Musk has a history of attributing technical snafus to cyberattacks.
…
Musk implemented widespread cuts and major changes … after acquiring the popular social media platform. … He laid off 80% of the staff. … The platform has experienced a series of glitches and disruptions since.
What really happened? Shawn Edwards explains, via Lily Hay Newman: What Really Happened
“Can’t conclude with certainty”
It’s important to recognize that IP attribution alone is not conclusive. Attackers frequently use compromised devices, VPNs, or proxy networks to obfuscate their true origin.
…
What we can conclude from the IP data is the geographic distribution of traffic sources. … What we can’t conclude with certainty is the actual perpetrator’s identity.
Get off the fence. Let’s try Prof. Ciaran Martin, the former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, via Aunty Beeb: ‘Garbage’ to blame Ukraine
“Wholly unconvincing”
[DDoS is] not that sophisticated. … I can’t think of a company of the size and standing internationally of X that’s fallen over to a DDoS attack for a very long time. [It] doesn’t reflect well on their cyber security.
…
[The Ukraine explanation] is wholly unconvincing … pretty much garbage. [An IP address] tells you absolutely nothing.
So, who was behind it? Bob Rudis fingers the perps:
A pro-Palestinian hacking group called Dark Storm Team claimed responsibility for the attack … on their Telegram channel … along with screenshots showing connection failures from different global locations. Dark Storm Team has been active since around 2023 and is known for targeting organizations in Israel, Europe, and the United States. … The group specializes in DDoS attacks and has a pro-Palestinian orientation.
…
The group responded to the Ukraine claim by saying, “Elon Musk must provide evidence for his claim, and we will provide evidence for ours. … We can attack again. A stronger attack this time, not only on Xitter but Tesla and others.”
“Claimed responsibility,” though? t-3 has an alternative explanation:
I very strongly doubt this attack was state-sanctioned if it came from Ukraine—but it could very well be a Ukrainian vigilante. As seen by arson of Tesla dealerships in the EU, many are upset about Musk’s involvement with the current US regime and his anti-EU and anti-Ukraine rhetoric. I would not be surprised at all if a lot of Ukrainians hated him to the point of irrationality. It could also very well be a false flag perpetrated by Russia trying to drive a wedge … between the US and Ukraine.
…
If it were specifically done to make a political point, having the attack come from Ukraine could be symbolically important. … Of course, Russians might just want to make Musk even more anti-Ukraine.
It’s just the latest Twitter FAIL. Tofystedeth wants to believe:
I’m willing to believe there is a DDoS. And also willing to believe it’s only working because he gutted the departments that would normally work to make the system resilient against such.
But who’d wanna damage poor Elon’s reputation? EnvironmentalLab3004 sounds slightly sarcastic:
Not that there are hundreds of tech/it guys he’s ****ed over with an axe to grind. No, gotta be Ukraine.
How might Musk make meaning from geolocated IP addresses? johnd0e8 eyerolls furiously:
He’s so clueless. He believes this works the way that is depicted in hacker movies or something.
Meanwhile, a poetic Snowball in Hell has a chance to make you smile: [You’re fired—Ed.]
Oh no.
This is terrible.
Can someone do Facebook next?
And Finally:
Clare and Simon return to form
You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites—so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi, @richij, @[email protected], @richi.bsky.social or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do not stare into laser with remaining eye. E&OE. 30.
Image sauce: AI Emoji Generator (cc:by-sa; leveled and cropped)
