X Stock Drops 5% After DDoS Attack by Hacktivist Group

On March 10, the social media platform X experienced a significant disruption due to a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. The attack, which overwhelmed the platform's servers with excessive traffic, caused intermittent outages and prevented thousands of users from accessing the site. The first outage began around 6 a.m. ET, with subsequent disruptions occurring throughout the morning. By 11:30 a.m. ET, the platform had stabilized, but users continued to experience intermittent issues.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, confirmed the cyberattack and suggested that it was a coordinated effort involving significant resources. He hinted that the attack could have been orchestrated by either a large, coordinated group or a nation-state actor. A hacking group known as Dark Storm Team claimed responsibility for the DDoS attack via a public post on Telegram. This group, which emerged around September 2023, is known for its pro-Palestinian stance and has targeted state organizations that support Israel, as well as key business sectors in NATO member countries.

The motives behind Dark Storm Team's attack on X are believed to be related to Musk's support for Israel, which has made him a controversial figure politically. The attacks on X are seen as part of a broader hacktivist campaign, similar to the tactics used by other groups like Killnet, which have carried out DDoS attacks against victims who support certain political causes. The nature of the attacks suggests a sophisticated and coordinated effort, involving multiple compromised devices as sources of attack traffic. These devices can include computers, IoT devices, and other networked equipment.

Cybersecurity experts have described the attacks as "full-scale DDoS assaults, combined with sophisticated botnet activity, credential stuffing, API abuse, and targeted application-layer attacks designed to cripple operations." While technical issues can occur, X's engineers are well-versed in scalability and redundancy, indicating that the attacks are part of a deliberate and targeted campaign. The group's leader claimed that the attack was a demonstration of their strength, with no political motives, although this assertion is met with skepticism given the group's known affiliations and past activities.

This is not the first time X has suffered a DDoS attack. Last August, Musk claimed the platform was hit by hackers prior to his interview with a prominent political figure. The recurring nature of these attacks highlights