“4:51 The AWS logo is visible in this image taken on October 20, 2025. Dado Ruvic/Reuters An internet outage caused by Amazon’s cloud servers has disrupted dozens of businesses around the world that provide critical services, including airlines, payments and home security. Amazon Web Services (AWS), which powers much of the public Internet, released an update Monday evening that […]”, — write: businessua.com.ua
4:51 The AWS logo is visible in this image taken on October 20, 2025. Dado Ruvic/Reuters
An internet outage caused by Amazon’s cloud servers has disrupted dozens of businesses around the world that provide critical services, including airlines, payments and home security.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), which powers a large portion of the public Internet, issued an update Monday evening saying all services are back to normal operations.
Correction came about 15 hours after the outage began, though some major websites continued to experience outages Tuesday morning, according to DownDetector, a site that tracks online reports of problems from users.
Three tech giants, including AWS, account for more than half of the cloud computing market, providing much of this unprecedented infrastructure that supports the World Wide Web and all that it enables. AWS controls about 30% of the cloud industry, while Microsoft Cloud accounts for 20% and Google Cloud 12%, data from Synergy Research Group found in July.
The latest outage exemplifies the massive vulnerability of relying on a small group of companies to keep essential digital services afloat, some experts told ABC News, noting the potential need for a bigger government role to protect a system that is closely tied to the health and livelihoods of ordinary people.
But experts warn that the size of the tech giants gives them the resources to minimize the frequency and duration of disruptions. They said an industry made up of many smaller companies could make disruptions commonplace.
“This outage is a serious wake-up call as we have several large cloud providers servicing many of our mission-critical applications. infrastructure,” said Timothy Edgar, a professor of computer science at Brown University and a former national security official. “It created a real potential vulnerability for us.”
Microsoft declined to comment. Amazon did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Google too.
According to DownDetector, a series of outage reports Monday afternoon indicated problems affecting a wide range of popular online apps, including Venmo, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, Snapchat and Lyft. Amazon, as well as the Alexa Assistant and Ring cameras, were also reported to be out of order.
In this Dec. 3, 2024 file photo, Amazon CEO Andy Jesse speaks during a keynote at AWS re:Invent 2024, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, in Las Vegas. Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services, FILE
Because a “large part of the Internet depends on AWS, the outages cascaded to large firms in various industries, leaving some people unable to access airline information or make everyday purchases,” Qi Liao, a computer science professor at Central Michigan University, told ABC News.
The cost of this week’s outage remains unknown, but last year’s outage at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected many Microsoft devices, cost Fortune 500 companies $5.4 billion, according to a CNN analysis of Parametrix data.
While acknowledging the risk of a large-scale failure, some experts said critics are wrongly focusing on the size of AWS and other cloud companies. The tech giants’ deep pockets allow them to improve data security, preventing many potential failures and reducing the duration of failures that do occur, they say.
“The idea is that it’s the size of Amazon in particular or their market. dominance in particular is what’s to blame here, that’s not the case,” Saurabh Visnubhakat, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law who studies technology-related issues, told ABC News.
“Failure protection, particularly in data centers that companies build and implement, is actually easier for larger companies,” Visnubhakat added.
The diverse landscape of smaller companies can be vulnerable to frequent small outages, frustrating many users, he said.
This week’s outage reflects the inevitability of holes in the cybersecurity system that protects people’s digital lives, Liao said, but the priority should be how best to protect the Internet.
page class=”EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN “>”Each approach has its pros and cons,” Liao added. “As engineers, we always try to make our system reliable, but it’s unrealistic to expect that there will never be a failure.”
Source: abcnews.go.com
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