LONDON (AP) — Early Monday, internet users globally experienced significant disruptions due to a problem with Amazon’s cloud service. Many popular platforms, like Snapchat and the gaming favorites Roblox and Fortnite, went offline.
Around three hours into the outage, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced it was starting to recover. AWS powers many essential online services for governments, universities, and businesses. According to DownDetector, a website that tracks outages, users reported problems not just with social media and games but also with services like the Robinhood app and the McDonald’s app. Coinbase and Signal confirmed they were affected as well.
Even Amazon’s own products, such as Ring doorbell cameras and Alexa devices, faced issues. Some users struggled to access the Amazon website or download books on Kindle.
The trouble began around 3:11 a.m. Eastern Time, when Amazon reported increased error rates for multiple services in the US-EAST-1 Region. This area is critical for AWS operations. Not long after, the company noted there were “significant error rates” and that engineers were on it. By around 6 a.m. Eastern Time, there was promise of recovery, with services starting to function normally again.
This isn’t the first time AWS has been at the center of widespread internet outages. In late 2021, a major disruption lasted more than five hours, affecting numerous sectors from airline bookings to streaming services. Guests were left unable to access various digital services, highlighting how reliant we have become on these platforms.
Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, pointed out that today’s internet runs on a few major cloud providers. “When something goes wrong, the effect can be vast,” he said. It’s often difficult for users to see the bigger picture, as they only notice that their favorite apps aren’t working.
He noted that the good news is that such outages are usually resolved quickly, often without cyberattack involvement. “This is likely a regular tech issue,” he explained. AWS and other big cloud providers have solid plans for managing outages, usually allowing teams to fix problems within hours.
As of 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time, AWS reported most services were back to normal, restoring the online world that many depend on every day.
Overall, the incident serves as a reminder of how intertwined our digital lives are with cloud technology. It impacts everything from communication to entertainment, showcasing the importance of reliable cloud infrastructure in our daily routines. For more in-depth insights on AWS outages, you can refer to the Amazon Web Services Health Dashboard.
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Cloud computing, General news, Business, Patrick Burgess, Technology, Alphabet, Inc., Software, U.S. news, World news, Internet, Smart home technology, U.S. News, World News
