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DDOS attack behind YouTube outage? Theories surface amid ‘Playback Error’ reports
Amid global YouTube outages, a hacker group claimed a DDOS attack on X, but there’s no confirmation yet; the US was the hardest hit.
Amid widespread YouTube outages on Monday hitting multiple countries, with the US being most affected, theories surfaced that a DOOS attack could be behind it.
An X account with the name Dark Storm Team - a reference to the infamous hacker group, claimed that they have launched a DDOS attack on X. However, as of now, no confirmation of the same exists.
On Wednesday afternoon, more than 300,000 users reported facing an YouTube outage in the United States. Users on social media said that they got a 'Playback Error' when trying to access services on YouTube, YouTube TV, and YouTube Music. The claims about the DDOS attack surfaced amid that widespread outage.
Hindustan Times could not verify the authenticity of the claims.
As of now, YouTube, or its parent company Google, has not confirmed a DDOS attack.
“Team YouTube is there an issue with YouTube? Are you under a DDOS attack? The videos aren’t playing properly most play 1-2 seconds then cut out then I get a video unavailable message,” one user wrote.
“It is happening worldwide i think it might be a ddos attack was ling ago there was a big on steam and other gaming sites,” said another.
What Caused The YouTube Outage? What We Know
As of now, there is no confirmation from YouTube about what caused the massive outage that lasted for more than an hour on Wednesday afternoon. While YouTube saw the largest number of reports on DownDetector, ancillary platforms such as YouTube Music saw nearly 10,000 reports, while YouTube TV saw close to 8,000.
In the US, most of the outages were concentrated in the urban areas, with cities such as Seattle, New York, California and Los Angeles being most affected.
This story is being updated as more information comes.
