Major Global Internet Outage Traced to Amazon Web Services (AWS)
In a major global disruption, Amazon's cloud services unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), experienced an outage on Monday (20). The failure affected thousands of global websites and applications, marking the first significant internet outage since the CrowdStrike malfunction last year.
Background and Context
AWS, which accounts for nearly a third of the global market, is a significant provider of cloud services for companies. A failure in the AWS Domain Name System (DNS) affected many digital services worldwide, revealing the global dependence on Amazon's cloud.
The platforms affected by the outage include Snapchat, Roblox, Signal, Duolingo, and a host of Amazon-owned operations, including its main retail site, the Ring doorbell company, Fortnite, and Alexa. AI start-up Perplexity, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and trading app Robinhood attributed their outages to AWS.
The Scope of the Outage
The outage was widespread, causing disruptions to platforms from streaming and banking to communications and media. Major companies impacted include Disney+, Lloyds Bank, Lyft, the New York Times, Reddit, and Zoom. In Argentina, the AWS cloud failure caused delays and errors in virtual wallets, design apps, and digital platforms.
AWS's Response and Recovery
We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region,
AWS said in an update on its status page. They later reported significant
progress and announced that they would provide further updates. The company also mentioned that they were working on multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery.
AWS pinpointed the issue to a specific part of its operation servicing the US east coast, but did not immediately explain why it was affected. A few hours later, there were 'significant signs of recovery' as the internet began to recover after the major outage that knocked out thousands of websites.
Implications of the Outage
The massive outage revealed the global dependence on Amazon's cloud. It disrupted many companies' connectivity around the world and caused major disruptions to several popular websites and apps. As a result, internet users reported difficulties accessing various services.
Current Status and Conclusion
The AWS outage was the largest internet disruption since last year's CrowdStrike malfunction, which severely affected technology systems in hospitals, banks, and airports. The exact cause of the outage is not yet known. However, AWS has announced that it has resolved the outage affecting applications worldwide. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the global internet's vulnerability and the potential impacts of such failures.