A few hours ago, Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter (now rebranded as X), revealed that the platform’s servers were targeted by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The attack caused a significant disruption, preventing users from signing in for roughly two hours.
In a separate and alarming incident, reports have emerged about a Portuguese cargo ship, the MV Solong, whose GPS system was reportedly hacked, causing it to stray from its designated route. The ship then collided with a stationary U.S. military oil tanker, triggering a massive explosion.
Initial investigations by various media outlets have confirmed the incident, noting that millions of liters of oil from the U.S.-flagged tanker, the MC Stena Immaculate, have spilled into the North Sea. This spill poses a severe threat to marine life, with experts warning that the environmental impact could be devastating.
Cybersecurity insiders have reported that the oil spill could form a thin film that may spread over a vast area, threatening the survival of seaweed and other marine flora. Experts fear this could lead to the extinction of several species within a few years due to the disruption of the ecosystem.
A White House official has acknowledged the reports and suggested that the attack could have been orchestrated by a Russian hacker group. They also mentioned that the MV Solong was carrying sodium cyanide, a highly toxic, water-soluble compound, which could have been another target for sabotage.
Current reports indicate that approximately 18,000 tons (around 141,960 barrels) of jet fuel have leaked into the sea. Fortunately, 38 miners and 14 crew members aboard the Solong were rescued by response teams earlier today.
In response, White House intelligence officials, alongside Pentagon teams, have been deployed to investigate the attack, as the Trump administration had previously flagged cyberattacks of this nature as a serious national security threat.
According to Reuters, speculation is growing that the attack may have been carried out by the Pro-Storm hacker group, which is linked to pro-Palestinian causes, or by individuals connected to the Ukrainian military. This theory is based on the timing of the incident, which occurred shortly after X (formerly Twitter) was targeted in a DDoS cyberattack.
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