Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud infrastructure giant relied on by millions of companies worldwide, experienced a significant outage on Monday, Oct. 20, temporarily knocking major websites and apps offline, CNBC reports.
What Is AWS And What Caused The Outage?
AWS, according to its website, is a cloud computing platform that provides on-demand services such as data storage, computing power, and database management to businesses, governments, and developers.
The disruption, per CNBC, first emerged in AWS’s primary U.S. East-1 region in northern Virginia at around 3:11 a.m. ET, when the company reported DNS issues affecting DynamoDB, its database service that supports many AWS applications. DNS, or Domain Name System, translates website names into IP addresses, enabling browsers and apps to load content.
AWS said at the time that the problem stemmed from an operational issue affecting multiple services, impacting more than 70 of its own systems. Early signs of recovery appeared by 5:01 a.m. ET, and by 6:35 a.m. ET, the DNS issue had been “fully mitigated,” the outlet reports. Despite initial recovery, users reported renewed disruptions around noon ET, including Amazon’s own services, e-commerce site, and Alexa devices. AWS later confirmed that the problem originated from within its EC2 internal network, its cloud service providing virtual server capacity. At about 1:30 p.m. ET, AWS provided an update, stating there were “early signs” of EC2 recovery in some regions.
Who And What Was Affected
The AWS outage affected a range of major websites and apps, including Disney+, Lyft, the McDonald’s app, The New York Times, Reddit, Ring, Robinhood, Snapchat, United Airlines, and Venmo, according to Downdetector. Even government services in the U.K., including Gov.uk and HM Revenue and Customs, experienced downtime.
A government spokesperson told CNBC that officials were in contact with AWS to restore affected services. Similarly, Lloyds Banking Group confirmed temporary interruptions, noting that services were gradually returning online.
According to CNBC, internal Amazon systems were also impacted. Warehouse and delivery employees, as well as Amazon Flex drivers, reported being unable to access internal tools, including the Anytime Pay app, which allows workers to receive a portion of their paycheck immediately. Seller Central, the platform for Amazon’s third-party sellers, was also offline during the outage.
Other tech platforms reliant on AWS cloud infrastructure reported disruptions, as the outlet notes. Reddit confirmed it was working to restore full capacity, while online learning platform Canvas noted increased error rates affecting functionality. Generative AI search engine Perplexity also cited AWS as the cause of its service disruption. Graphic design tool Canva said users were experiencing “significant” issues as well due to the underlying cloud provider outage.
Expert Insights And Broader Context
Experts, per CNBC, say these incidents highlight the central role of major cloud providers.
“We’ll learn more in the hours and days ahead, but early reports indicate this wasn’t a problem with the database itself,” said Mike Chapple, IT professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and former computer scientist with the National Security Agency. “The data appears to be safe. Instead, something went wrong with the records that tell other systems where to find their data.”
AWS is the world’s largest cloud provider, holding roughly a third of the market, ahead of Microsoft and Google, according to Synergy Research Group. Its systems power countless online services, CNBC notes, meaning technical issues can ripple quickly across industries and geographies.
This is not the first time AWS has experienced outages. According to the outlet, significant disruptions in 2021 and 2023 temporarily affected websites, apps, and even Amazon’s own operations. Rob Jardin, chief digital officer at cybersecurity company NymVPN, told CNBC that these technical faults are not usually cyberattacks but illustrate the fragility of highly centralized cloud systems and the world’s dependency on just a few major cloud service providers.
