Thought Leadership
Immediately after the American military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Donald Trump’s social media platform is targeted by cyber criminals.
The Iran-affiliated hacker group “313 Team” has claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on Truth Social, according to the non-profit Center for Internet Security (CIS). The attack took place just a few hours after the US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend.
DDoS attack paralyzes platform for hours
The hacker group used a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack to take Truth Social offline at around 8pm local time on Saturday evening. Shortly before, President Trump had announced via the platform: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan”.
Users of the platform received error messages for hours, such as “Network failed… Please try again”. The 313 team is part of a larger network of hacktivists who have allied themselves with pro-Russian and pro-Palestinian groups.
Escalation in cyberspace reflects military confrontation
The attack on Truth Social is symptomatic of the increasing shift of geopolitical tensions into the digital space. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already warned of a “heightened threat level” from pro-Iranian cyberattacks following the American airstrikes.
The choice of Truth Social as the target of the attack was by no means coincidental. As the personal social media platform of the anti-Iranian President Trump, the attack has a strong symbolic dimension – it was not only intended to cause technical disruption, but also to send a political message.
