{"id":240817,"date":"2025-10-21T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/240817\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:40:10","slug":"what-caused-amazons-aws-outage-and-why-did-so-many-major-apps-go-offline-internet-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/240817\/","title":{"rendered":"What caused Amazon\u2019s AWS outage, and why did so many major apps go offline? | Internet News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major outage<\/a> at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Monday disrupted a large portion of the internet, taking down apps, websites and online tools used by millions of people around the world, before services were eventually restored.<\/p>\n

The hours-long breakdown<\/a> of the cloud system that supports a portion of the internet revealed just how much of modern-life depends on the infrastructure \u2013 from banking apps and airlines to smart home devices and gaming platforms.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 1 itemend of list<\/p>\n

Here is what we know:<\/p>\n

What happened and what caused the AWS outage?<\/p>\n

At about 07:11 GMT, Amazon\u2019s cloud service experienced a major outage, meaning some of its systems stopped working, which disrupted many popular apps and websites, including banks, gaming platforms and entertainment services.<\/p>\n

The problem started in one of AWS\u2019s main data centres in Virginia, its oldest and biggest site, after a technical update to the API \u2013 a connection between different computer programmes \u2013 of DynamoDB, a key cloud database service that stores user information and other important data for many online platforms.<\/p>\n

The root cause appears to have been an error in the update that affected the Domain Name System (DNS), which helps apps find the correct server addresses. A DNS works like the internet\u2019s phone book, turning website names into the numeric IP addresses that computers use to connect to servers.<\/p>\n

Because of the DNS issue, apps could not find the IP address for DynamoDB\u2019s API and were unable to connect.<\/p>\n

As DynamoDB went down, other AWS services also began to fail. In total, 113 services were affected by the outage. By 10:11 GMT, Amazon said that all AWS returned to normal operations, but there was a backlog \u201cof messages that they will finish processing over the next few hours\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the time of publication, Downdetector, a website that tracks internet outages based on user reports, was still showing problems with platforms such as OpenAI, ESPN and Apple Music.<\/p>\n

Updated look at the total impact of the AWS Outage up to this point!https:\/\/t.co\/Bgpm1fFGtf<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/TAAxjagNl6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Downdetector (@downdetector) October 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

What is a cloud and what exactly is AWS?<\/p>\n

A cloud is a way of storing and using data or programmes over the internet instead of on your computer or other physical storage devices.<\/p>\n

When people say something is \u201cin the cloud\u201d, it means the files, apps or systems are running on powerful computers (called servers) in data centres owned by companies like Amazon (AWS), Google or Microsoft, not on your personal device.<\/p>\n

In this case, AWS allows companies to rent computing power and storage. It supplies the technology that runs websites, apps and many online services behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

One of AWS\u2019s core services is DynamoDB, a database that stores important information for companies, such as customer records. On Monday, Amazon reported that customers were unable to access their DynamoDB data.<\/p>\n

AWS is the biggest cloud service provider in the world.<\/p>\n

Cloud outages are not rare, but they have become more noticeable as more companies rely on these services every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fallout impacted people across a number of different spheres,\u201d Joshua Mahony, the chief market analyst at Scope Markets, told Al Jazeera. [But] of course this kind of comes with the territory with tech companies; the key is they can resolve it quickly, and it doesn\u2019t cost them a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Amazon would likely weather the storm from the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re looking at something that is relatively contained,\u201d he said. \u201cAmazon Web Services has cornered 30 percent of the market alone. Their users are not going to suddenly jump ship. Their businesses are deeply ingrained.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE_The<\/p>\n

Which services and apps went down?<\/p>\n

The outage affected dozens of websites, including Snapchat, Pinterest and Apple TV, according to Downdetector.<\/p>\n

Other communication apps were also affected including: WhatsApp, Signal, Zoom and Slack; gaming services such as Roblox, Fortnite and Xbox; and places like Starbucks. Etsy also experienced issues.<\/p>\n

In the United States, people were having issues with financial apps too, including Venmo.<\/p>\n

Some users said their Ring doorbells and Alexa speakers stopped working, while others could not access the Amazon website or download books on their Kindles.<\/p>\n

The language app Duolingo and creative tool Canva were among those reporting errors on their websites, and several media organisations were hit, including the Associated Press news agency, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

Banks, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and AI firm Perplexity also reported issues, along with US airlines Delta and United.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE<\/p>\n

Why did so many major apps go offline at once?<\/p>\n

When AWS had its outage, it was not just Amazon\u2019s tools that were affected. Thousands of other companies that use AWS for storage, databases or web hosting were also hit. These companies include many major apps that rely on AWS to run key parts of their systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we see these headlines, the first thought that goes through everybody\u2019s mind, that sends a shiver up the spine, is, \u2018Is this one of those cyberattacks? Is this a military or intelligence-led thing that has led to this disruption?\u2019 And in this case, it\u2019s not,\u201d Bryson Bort chief executive of the cybersecurity company Scythe told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, most of the time, it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s usually human error.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did Amazon respond?<\/p>\n

AWS acknowledged<\/a> the outage and said engineers were \u201cimmediately engaged\u201d to fix the problem.<\/p>\n

AWS said it worked on \u201cmultiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery\u201d. It also reported that the main issue had been fully resolved, though some users continued to face minor delays as systems recovered.<\/p>\n

The company also said it would publish a detailed post-event summary explaining what happened.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial view of an Amazon Web Services Data Center, known as US East 1, in Ashburn, Virginia [Jonathan Ernst\/Reuters]