Amazon Web Services, also known as AWS, has resumed operations following a day-long outage that affected businesses and organizations nationwide and worldwide, disrupting websites and applications for millions.
AWS is a leading provider of cloud infrastructure services. Reports from Downdetector, a website that tracks online outages, stated there were 11 million total outages and 3 million reports stemming from U.S. users.
What You Need To Know
A 15-hour disruption to Amazon Web Services shook internet users across the country on Monday
It impacted everything from social media apps, to streaming services and financial transactions, despite Monday’s outage not being a first for the company
The outage has put a spotlight on the fragility of the global economy
“We could imagine how difficult it would be for us to make an outside call or receive a call if our phone book is not working and our phone,” College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity professor Ariel Pinto said. “So, it just slows down all the company’s operations.”
The outage impacted thousands of companies, one of which was E-ZPass tolls.
“The call center at the department of taxation and finance was down briefly, but that issue was quickly resolved,” said Scott Reif, the chief communications officer for the New York State Office of Information Technology Services.
This statement follows after posting on social media: “Due to a national service outage, the E-ZPass New York customer service center phone system is unavailable. To manage your account, please log in via this website (https://e-zpassny.com) or the Tolls NY mobile app. Service will be restored as soon as possible.”
“At least they have identified the reason why it happened,” Pinto said. “And that’s the first step in avoiding this from happening again.”
Experts say the outage was due to a directory malfunction, but those tied to the AWS services displaced users to complete simple web-based functions. This has impacted everyday people on the ground and major enterprises who rely on the cloud provider.
“We have filtered this down to our, our classes, all our instructors, and we have reminded them of the relevance of what everyone is looking at, which is how critical cybersecurity is as a functionality or things that keep our society moving smoothly,” Pinto said.
Although the incident may have initiated a minor reassessment of cloud services, it is not anticipated to significantly alter the landscape. AWS is also no stranger to outages, after having an issue in 2023 that knocked websites offline for several hours, and an outage in late 2021, that impacted a diverse array of businesses, including airlines, auto dealerships, payment applications and video streaming services.
This issue hasn’t posed a significant departure of AWS customers, but could encourage companies to diversify their cloud services to avoid dependence on a single provider.