On March 10, 2025, X (formerly Twitter) suffered a major outage, disrupting access for thousands of users across Asia, Europe, and North America. The platform went down around 5:30 AM Eastern Time, affecting over 40,000 users worldwide.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, quickly pointed to a “massive cyberattack” originating from the “Ukraine area.” In a series of posts on X, he speculated that a well-resourced group or even a nation-state carried out the attack. He stated, “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.”
However, cybersecurity analysts have challenged Musk’s claims. Check Point Research (CPR), a leading cyber threat intelligence firm, attributed the attack to The Dark Storm Team, a pro-Palestinian hacking group. This group, which had been dormant for a while, recently resurfaced and has a history of launching sophisticated cyberattacks.
The Dark Storm Team has previously targeted high-security infrastructures, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Haifa Port in Israel, and the UAE’s Ministry of Defense. They have also declared an intention to intensify attacks on NATO governments, Israel, and nations supporting Israel.
The cyberattack on X highlights the growing complexity of cyber threats, where motivations extend beyond national borders and often involve ideological or geopolitical agendas. While Musk suggests Ukraine’s involvement, the resurgence of The Dark Storm Team points to a broader and more intricate cyber warfare landscape.
Other hacker groups have been making headlines as well. RedJulliett, a Chinese cyber group, has targeted Kenyan government agencies, breaching the finance ministry, the president’s office, and the national intelligence service to extract data on the country’s debt to China. Meanwhile, Anonymous Sudan reportedly took down Kenya’s eCitizen platform, disrupting services like NTSA, in retaliation for Kenya’s alleged interference in Sudanese affairs.
X has since restored its services, but investigations continue to determine the exact origin and method of the attack. Users are advised to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity on the platform. This incident serves as a reminder that cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated, and difficult to attribute with certainty.
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