To capture the attention of tech billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, an Anonymous Sudanese Hackers group orchestrated a temporary outage of X, formerly known as Twitter, in multiple countries. Their objective was to compel the entrepreneur to extend the Starlink satellite service to their war-ravaged nation.
Via a Telegram post, these hackers conveyed their message: “Let our plea reach Elon Musk: ‘Enable Starlink in Sudan.'”
During a conversation with a member of the hacker group on Telegram, it was revealed that Tuesday’s attack involved overwhelming Elon Musk’s X servers with an immense volume of traffic, rendering the platform temporarily inaccessible.
The group’s method was straightforward and relatively simple, in line with their well-known hacking strategy. The website Downdetector recorded nearly 20,000 outage reports from users in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Hofa, a member of the hacking collective, emphasized that their Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack aimed to draw attention to the dire situation in Sudan, where internet access is frequently disrupted due to the ongoing conflict. Musk’s company has not formally acknowledged the outage, despite the disruption caused by the attack.
Notably, Anonymous Sudan has been accused of having ties to a Russian cyber-military unit responsible for sowing chaos in the digital realm. These allegations stem from the group’s perceived support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has recently faced accusations related to the plane crash that claimed the life of Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prighozin near Moscow and its alignment with other hacking groups in Russia.
The BBC reported that the group vehemently denies any connection to Russia. Members of the collective have provided evidence, including pictures of their Sudanese passports and screenshots indicating their presence in Sudan.
Crush, a spokesperson for the group, articulated their overarching objective: “Our long-term goal is to showcase the capabilities of the Sudanese people, who, despite limited resources, possess significant skills across various domains.”
In June, the group expressed solidarity with the Russian government in response to the mutiny led by Wagner Group Chief Prighozin. Crush explained that this gesture reciprocated Russia’s support for Sudan during its crisis, highlighting Russia’s backing of the Sudanese government in the ongoing civil war.
Crush emphasized that their group comprises a “small number” of Sudanese hackers who conduct their activities from within the country, even amid frequent internet disruptions.
Since its emergence, Anonymous Sudan has disrupted digital services in several countries, including France, Nigeria, Israel, and the United States.