Who is Dark Storm Team, the pro-Palestinian hacktivist group that took down X to protest 'Musk and Trump's blatant fascism'?

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, experienced at least three outages on Monday, following a large-scale cyberattack. Outage tracker Downdetector reported over 41,000 incidents globally, with users across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia encountering difficulties accessing the platform, including full connection timeouts.

According to Downdetector, the disruptions occurred at approximately 3:30 PM IST, 7:00 PM IST, and 8:44 PM IST, significantly impacting app and website accessibility. Confirming the “massive and coordinated cyberattack,” Musk attributed the outage to “nation-state-level capabilities,” implying potential involvement from a major geopolitical player.

Dark Storm Team claims responsibility

Later on Monday, Dark Storm Team, a pro-Palestinian hacktivist collective, took responsibility for the attack. The group posted a message on Telegram stating they had “taken Twitter offline,” accompanied by a screenshot displaying failed connection attempts from multiple global locations.

Speculation surrounding the motive for the attack emerged after a Bluesky user, ‘Puck Arks,’ suggested that the arrest of Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University in the US may have triggered the attack. The handle, which has shared insights into Dark Storm Team’s activities, posted messages demanding Khalil’s release.

The user also accused Musk and former US President Donald Trump of promoting fascism and pledged continued “peaceful DDoS protests” against X. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) is a type of cyberattack in which multiple systems flood a targeted server, network, or website with an overwhelming amount of traffic, causing it to slow down or crash. The goal of a DDoS attack is to disrupt normal operations, making the targeted service inaccessible to legitimate users.

“Due to Elon Musk’s and Donald Trump’s blatant fascism and lack of humanity, we as a digital army for the people will continue our peaceful DDoS protests against X,” the user wrote.

However, it remains unclear whether ‘Puck Arks’ has direct ties to Dark Storm Team or simply shares its ideological stance.

In response to Musk’s comments on Fox Business Network suggesting the attack may have originated from Ukraine, ‘Puck Arks’ denied any connection, stating, “Don’t let Elon Musk use this as an excuse to attack Ukraine. Dark Storm is not affiliated with Ukraine if you know our history.” The user further emphasized that the hacktivist group is not funded by “Democrats, Republicans, George Soros, or any government agency or state.”

Who is Dark Storm Team?

Dark Storm Team emerged in 2023, conducting high-level cyberattacks on Western governments, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure. With a pro-Palestinian focus, the group has primarily targeted NATO countries, Israel, and states supporting Israel. In recent months, it has expanded operations to include the US and its allies.

The group specialises in DDoS attacks but has also been linked to data breaches and ransomware-style extortion campaigns. It previously claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on John F Kennedy Airport (JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Snapchat.

Dark Storm’s tactics resemble those of the Russian-linked KillNet group, which targeted Ukraine supporters before shifting to a hackers-for-hire model. However, no confirmed ties between the two have been established.

What next?

Dark Storm Team has indicated that while the attack on X has halted temporarily, it will resume soon with new targets and tools. As hacktivist groups become increasingly sophisticated, platforms like X and other global services may need to bolster cybersecurity measures to prevent future disruptions.

Cybersecurity experts warn that the attack on X underscores the rising threat of ideologically driven hacktivist groups with access to advanced cyber capabilities. David Mound, Senior Penetration Tester at SecurityScorecard, told CyberNews.com that adversaries are “leveraging increasingly sophisticated techniques to bypass traditional defenses.”

The ability of Dark Storm Team to disrupt a major global platform like X signals a concerning shift in the cyber warfare landscape, highlighting the growing risks posed by politically motivated hacktivists.