Elon Musk's X suffers multiple outages amid claims of a 'massive cyberattack'

 Elon Musk's X suffers multiple outages amid claims of a 'massive cyberattack'

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New York (CNN) — Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, experienced widespread outages on Monday, which the billionaire attributed to a cyberattack originating from Ukraine-based IP addresses.

“We’re not exactly sure what happened,” Musk said during a Fox Business interview Monday afternoon. “But there was a massive cyberattack attempting to take down X, with IP addresses linked to the Ukraine region.”

Musk did not provide further details on the origin of the attack or whether he believed it was tied to the Ukrainian government. Cybersecurity experts note that IP addresses can be easily masked, allowing hackers to spoof locations and obscure the true source of an attack.

According to DownDetector, an outage-tracking website, the disruptions began around 6 a.m. ET, with over 20,500 users initially reporting issues. After a temporary lull, reports spiked again to nearly 40,000 by 10 a.m. The outages started to subside after 2 p.m. and continued decreasing throughout the afternoon.

Users on DownDetector reported that X was failing to load, and the disruption appeared to be global, as confirmed by DownDetector’s international sites. During his Fox Business interview in the 4 p.m. ET hour, Musk stated that the platform was back online.

Since DownDetector relies on self-reported data, the exact scope of the outage remains unclear. CNN reached out to X for comment, but the company, which typically does not respond to press inquiries, has yet to issue a statement.

Early Monday afternoon, Musk posted on X, speculating that “a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved,” though he provided no concrete evidence. In response to a post suggesting an effort to silence him and his platform, Musk simply replied, “Yes.”

Cybersecurity expert Eric Noonan, CEO of CyberSheath, cautioned against jumping to conclusions. “Statements made immediately after, or even during, an attack should be taken with a grain of salt,” Noonan told CNN, noting that it’s often too soon to determine the true cause.

Musk has previously blamed technical issues on cyberattacks. In August 2024, when his conversation with Donald Trump on X was delayed by 42 minutes, he claimed there was a “100% probability” of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack—an attempt to overwhelm a server with fake traffic. Similarly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 2023 presidential campaign announcement on X was plagued by technical problems.

While ransomware attacks, which are often financially motivated, have become more common, DDoS attacks are typically used to create disruptions, making it harder to identify the perpetrators, Noonan explained.

Since acquiring X (formerly Twitter) in 2022, Musk has enacted sweeping changes, including massive layoffs. He immediately dismissed top executives and, within days, cut 3,500 jobs—about half the workforce. Eventually, he reduced the staff by 80% and mandated a full-time return to the office. Under his leadership, the platform has suffered multiple glitches and outages.

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Monday proved challenging for Musk’s business empire beyond X. Tesla shares plummeted 15%, wiping out the gains the company had seen since Trump’s November 2024 election.