Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest network of servers in the cloud, suffered a blackout early yesterday morning, Monday, which affected hundreds of websites and digital services all over the world. Social networks such as Facebook, YouTube or Snapchat, streaming services such as Netflix, video games Roblox and Fortnite, and Microsoft and Amazon themselves have recorded dozens of operational failures. The problems originated at AWS facilities in the US state of Virginia, one of the company’s oldest and largest data centers. AWS meanwhile announced that the issue was being resolved, with most requests to services being processed “correctly”.
What is certain is that this is not the first time that these sophisticated technological systems have failed and created a kind of chaos in the world. Yesterday was one of those days. AWS’s provision of technology for companies to operate online has failed. Microsoft was one of the most affected platformswith 78 failures in Microsoft Outlook having been reported by 12:15 pm in Portugal, said the Downdetector portal, an online problem tracker. Microsoft 365, responsible for services such as Word, Excel or Powerpoint, also experienced several difficulties. Users told Downdetector that these failures were related to the server connection, the OneDrive storage service and the Word document program. Microsoft Teams also did not escape the disruptions caused by the AWS blackout.
The morning was marked by several difficulties in accessing Netflix series and film services. When it comes to entertainment, more than five thousand occurrences were presented in the video game Fortnite and more than 800 on the Playstation Network, adding to the obstacles in the functioning of games such as Roblox, Pokemon or Clash Royale. Social media was also down. Downdetector recorded 149 errors on YouTube, namely errors in the functioning of the website and the application, and difficulties in playing videos. Facebook and Snapchat also reported problems with their applications. Google was the target of 140 incidents.
Amazon services were not immune to this blackout. Users of Ring security cameras and Alexa smart speakers revealed on Downdetector that these devices were not working. Customers of the technology giant said they were unable to access the Amazon website or download books to their Kindles.
The European Commission even opted to use “traditional methods” such as emails, due to the technical problems encountered at AWS and stated that it will evaluate “additional measures” regarding its communication networks, said the institution’s main spokesperson, Paula Pinho, at the daily press conference in Brussels. “As soon as we have clarification from the company about what led to this interruption, we will see if we need to take additional measures, also in terms of the resilience of our own communication networks”, said the person in charge.
On the electronic page, AWS confirmed having detected the problems at around 8:11 am (Portuguese time). “Engineers responded immediately and are actively working to mitigate the issue and fully understand its root cause,” he later added. The Amazon DynamoDB database and the process it uses to communicate with said data center were believed to be the cause of this blackout.
AWS services had already generated constraints on other occasions. In 2021, the longest interruption in the company’s history occurred. For more than five hours, airline reservations, car dealerships, payment applications, streaming services, among others, were offline. Also in 2017, 2020 and 2023, constraints were recorded in the company’s services, although with less impact.
Last year, CrowdStrike was the protagonist of one of the most serious technological criseswhen the update to its Falcon software caused a computer failure that affected the operation of airlines, airports, banks and hospitals.
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