Millions of users worldwide experienced widespread internet disruptions on Monday, following a major outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the United States a key cloud computing provider that powers much of the global internet infrastructure.
The disruption affected numerous major platforms, including Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, Airbnb, and several UK banks. Even some of Amazon’s own services such as Prime Video and Ring doorbell systems were impacted.
According to DownDetector, a site that tracks service outages, users began reporting failures early Monday morning. After roughly three hours, AWS confirmed that recovery efforts were underway, attributing the problem to issues with its Domain Name System (DNS) the critical service that translates website names into the numerical IP addresses required for internet connections.
Heavy Reliance on Cloud Giants
AWS underpins operations for countless businesses, universities, and government agencies, making any disruption far-reaching.
Cybersecurity expert Patrick Burgess from the UK’s BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, warned that the growing dependency on a few global cloud providers magnifies the scale of such incidents.
“When a company like Amazon experiences technical issues, the ripple effect can be massive,” he noted.
Recurring Cloud Outages
This latest incident is not without precedent. AWS suffered several outages in recent years, including a prolonged one in 2021 that lasted over five hours. Similarly, in 2023, a brief breakdown caused interruptions across numerous online platforms.
Amazon’s competitors have also faced similar crises. In July 2024, a Microsoft Windows outage brought down systems across airports, hospitals, and businesses worldwide, affecting approximately 8.5 million computers.
As the world becomes increasingly reliant on a handful of major tech companies to power its digital infrastructure, Monday’s incident serves as another stark reminder of the fragility of the modern internet ecosystem.
