A cybersecurity expert has said it would be “unsafe to point fingers” at Ukraine after Elon Musk's claim that the X glitch was linked to the country.
Mr Musk said the social network had been subjected to a “massive cyberattack,” adding in an interview with Fox Business Network that the attackers had used “IP addresses of Ukrainian origin.”
According to data from Downdetector.com, the number of outage complaints spiked around 11am UK time on Monday and then again four hours later, with more than 40,000 users reporting the platform was unavailable.
Jake Moore, global cyber security consultant at software company Eset, told the PA news agency he was “convinced” a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack had occurred, in which multiple IP addresses flood a server or website with internet traffic.
He added: “Unfortunately, X remains one of the most talked about platforms, making it a typical target for hackers looking to assert their power.
“All that can be done to ensure the resilience of networks in the future is to continue to prepare for unexpected situations and build even stronger layers of protection against DDoS attacks.
“IP addresses can also be redirected using software to make it appear as if they are coming from anywhere in the world.
“So even if the analysis points to Ukraine, it would be wrong to point the finger so early.”
Mr Moore added that “simple analysis” of IP addresses could reveal their location, but this could be “spoofed” to make it appear the source was in another country.
He said: “Without having an investigation report, it would be difficult to accept this charge in any event.”
Mr Musk, who is Donald Trump's adviser on federal spending, has previously claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky runs a “fraud machine that feeds on the corpses of soldiers”, indicating America's limited desire to continue supporting Ukraine.
Tesla CEO acquired the site, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
