Elon Musk's Live Interview with Donald Trump Delayed Due to Massive DDoS Attack on X Platform

Elon Musk claims live Trump interview on X derailed by DDOS

Once-great platform tanks another major political livestream, bigly Elon Musk has blamed a "DDoS" attack for a forty-minute delay in the start of his live-streamed interview, hosted on X, with presidential candidate Donald Trump. The interview was hosted in an X Space - the service's platform that allows live-streamed audio content. "We tested the system with eight million concurrent listeners earlier today," Musk Xeeted ahead of the event. But as the scheduled start ran late, he alleged: "There appears to be a massive DDoS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." The Register tuned into the event a few minutes after its planned start and was offered elevator music and a notification the event would soon be underway. The interview commenced some 40 minutes after its advertised time. Live audience statistics reported 1.1 to 1.3 million attendees during the portions of the event The Register observed - although during the stream Trump claimed that the event had an audience of 60 million or more, exceeding targets of 25 million. The Register has found no evidence of a denial of service attack directed at X. Check Point Software's live cyber threat map does not record unusual levels of activity at the time of writing. NetScout's real-time DDoS map recorded only small attacks on the US. If a DDoS was indeed the reason for the delayed start of the event, it appears not to have impacted the rest of X's operations - there were plenty of posts commenting on the problems with the Space occupied by the interview. And Musk was tweeting from the very network said to be under attack. This is not the first time an X-hosted political event has struggled. In May 2023, would-be Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis's livestreamed campaign launch crashed and featured regular unplanned silences. The Trump interview, once it got going, featured rhetoric and verbiage that will be familiar to followers of both participants. Trump criticized the policies of the Biden administration, described his political opponents as dangerous radicals, warned of dire consequences for the United States if he is not elected, and made some baffling references to matters such as "nuclear warming." The two men both bemoaned over-regulation as a handbrake on business and innovation, and called for reform. They found common ground on the issue of rapid inter-city rapid transport infrastructure. Trump touted trains, Musk preferred traffic tunnels. The conversation occasionally grazed on tech, with Trump worrying that AI's potential may not be realized due to current energy policy that prioritizes renewable sources. "AI requires twice as much energy as the US already produces," Trump claimed. "You are going to need tremendous electricity, almost double what we produce for the country if you can believe it." Musk opined that solar generation will become the major source of energy in the US. The tycoon also stated that as Tesla makes electric cars and that he's really into solar power, he should not be assumed to hold right wing political views. The social media, automotive, rocketry, brain implant, AI, tunneling, tequila, and flamethrower entrepreneur also told listeners that Tesla cars are designed to help buyers go green without compromise. "We do not believe caring for the environment should mean you should suffer," he noted, adding that cars should be "sexy." He pointed out that Tesla makes models named S, 3, X, and Y - which sort of spells "SEXY." "That's the most expensive joke out there," Musk mused. But maybe not as darkly funny - or expensive - as spending $44 billion on a social media platform that struggles to handle marquee events, picks fights with advertisers, and allegedly ignores at least some financial obligations to staff. ®

Elon Musk Delays Live Chat With Trump Due To Massive DDOS Attack on X: 'Will Proceed With A Smaller Number Of Live Listeners' - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Elon Musk, the owner of X, reported a massive DDOS attack on his social media platform ahead of a much-anticipated live conversation with former President Donald Trump. What Happened: On Monday, Musk tweeted about the cyber attack, stating, "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." The tweet came just hours before Musk's planned live interview with Trump. The live chat was scheduled for 8 p.m. E.T. on Monday, with Musk inviting his followers to post their questions and comments under the chat. The conversation was expected to be unscripted with no limits on subject matter, promising to be "highly entertaining," according to Musk. At the time of writing, the X Spaces feature was inaccessible to the author of this report in Japan. Musk clarified that X had tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier in the day. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted on Trump's Spaces thread saying he couldn't join the stream. Other X users also reported they had trouble joining the conversation. Musk said in another tweet that X will proceed with a smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 p.m. ET and post unedited audio thereafter. See Also: Jeff Bezos Once Said 'Life's Too Short To Hang Out With People Who Aren't Resourceful' -- Who Are The Peop Why It Matters: The live conversation was a significant event for X, which has been trying to break into the live-streaming industry. The platform has previously faced technical issues during large live streams. In 2023, X experienced glitches when more than 300,000 people tried to join the live stream of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announcing his presidential candidacy. The conversation between Musk and Trump was expected to draw a large audience, potentially testing X's streaming capabilities. Musk had previously tested the platform's capabilities by broadcasting himself playing video games, which garnered around 10 million views each. Trump's appearance on X was his first in a year, and the live chat was seen as an opportunity for him to reach millions of viewers. The former president had earlier tweeted a video clip promoting his presidential bid, which gained over six million views in less than an hour. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Did You Know? Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Elon Musk-Donald Trump interview hit by DDoS attack: What is DDoS attack - Times of India

The much-anticipated conversation between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Republican US Presidential candidate Donald Trump on X (formerly Twitter) was derailed by a cyber attack. The platform faced a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack disrupting the interview. In a post on X, Musk confirmed the attack saying "There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on X.Working on shutting it down. Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later." "We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today," Musk wrote in another post, pledging to host the live interview with a limited number of listeners. "We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter," he said. The interview was scheduled for 8pm ET. What is a DDoS attack A DDoS or distributed denial of service attack disrupts network services by targeting websites and servers in an attempt to exhaust an application's resources. The attackers flood the targeted site with errant traffic, resulting in poor website functionality or knocking it offline altogether. A DDoS attack can last hours, or even days. These cyber assaults can also cause multiple disruptions throughout a singular attack. As explained on a Microsoft webpage, during a DDoS attack, 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. "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," it said. The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk's news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.