E-Paper
What is a DDoS attack? All about the malicious cybercrime that delayed Donald Trump's interview with Elon Musk
As millions of users waited for Donald Trump’s interview with Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO revealed on X that it was delayed due to a “massive DDOS attack on X.”
As millions of users waited for Donald Trump’s interview with Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO revealed on X that it was delayed due to a “massive DDOS attack on X.” While the interview was scheduled to start at 8 pm ET on August 8, users restlessly waited as it kept getting delayed before finally starting.
“There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down,” Musk wrote on X. “Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later.”
In another post, he said, “We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today”.
Musk then wrote, “We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter”.
Musk had earlier revealed that scalability testing will be done before the interview, possibly because he was expecting the interview to attract a large number of users and was trying to ensure X does not crash.
What is a DDoS attack?
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack targets servers and websites by disrupting network services and tries to exhaust an application’s resources in the process. People behind the attacks overwhelm a site with errant traffic, which results in poor website functionality. Most prone to these cyberattacks are businesses like gaming, ecommerce, and telecommunications. The attacks can end up compromising online security, sales, and reputation of a business.
According to Microsoft, “During a DDoS attack, a series of bots, or botnet, floods a website or service with HTTP requests and traffic. Essentially, multiple computers storm one computer during an attack, pushing out legitimate users. As a result, service can be delayed or otherwise disrupted for a length of time.”
These attacks can last hours, or days at a stretch. “It’s possible that hackers can also infiltrate your database during an attack, accessing sensitive information. DDoS attacks can exploit security vulnerabilities and target any endpoint that is reachable, publicly, through the internet,” Microsoft adds.
To prevent or tackle such attacks, an action plan can be put together, according to Microsoft. One can develop a denial-of-service defence strategy in order to “detect, prevent, and reduce” the attacks. Microsoft also urges businesses to “identify gaps in security and assess potential threats to your setup.” It is also important to update any protection software or technology and make sure it is working properly.
