What Caused AWS Outage Leading to Widespread Internet Disruption?

Millions of users across the world faced connectivity issues on Monday as Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud provider, went down. From gaming to finance, dozens of popular apps and services were hit, leaving users unable to access essential platforms for hours.

AWS later confirmed that the problem originated in its US-EAST-1 data center in Virginia, a core hub that supports thousands of web applications globally.

Apps and Services Impacted Worldwide

The outage rippled across social media, gaming, and business platforms. Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, Signal, Robinhood, and even McDonald’s app faced interruptions. Users also reported issues with Prime Video, Alexa, Canva, Coinbase, and Venmo, according to outage tracker DownDetector.

Starbucks confirmed a “very limited impact” on its app, while DoorDash said some delivery partners faced brief disruptions due to AWS-linked systems.

When one of AWS’s main regions falters, the effects spread fast because so many services depend on its servers.

What Went Wrong Inside AWS

AWS traced the source of the disruption to a problem with its DynamoDB endpoint in the affected region. DynamoDB is a cloud database service that powers countless web and mobile apps.

Experts explained that the problem wasn’t with the data itself but with how systems accessed it. “Amazon had the data safely stored, but nobody else could find it,” said cybersecurity expert Mike Chapple.

In simple terms, AWS suffered a Domain Name System (DNS) failure — a crucial part of the internet that translates website names into machine-readable IP addresses. When that system breaks, apps can’t find their data, causing widespread outages.

Why AWS Outages Affect the Whole Internet

Amazon’s cloud is the digital backbone for businesses, government agencies, and startups. A single issue in one region can trigger a domino effect across global internet infrastructure.

As cybersecurity researcher John Scott-Railton noted, the US-EAST-1 region is “a backbone for so many services” that even small errors can cause major disruption.

Experts warn that the world’s heavy reliance on a few cloud giants — Amazon, Microsoft, and Google — increases the risk of such incidents. “The world now runs on the cloud,” said Patrick Burgess of BCS, U.K. “When something breaks, users feel it everywhere.”

A Reminder of Past Outages

This isn’t the first time AWS has stumbled. Previous large-scale outages occurred in 2023, 2021, 2020, and 2017, affecting streaming services, payment apps, and even airline systems.

While AWS said it has since resolved the latest issues, the outage serves as a reminder of how deeply cloud computing underpins modern life — and how fragile that connection can be.

Source: AP