Amazon's AWS Cloud Service Resumes Normal Operations After Global Outage

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has returned to normal operations after an internet outage caused disruptions to thousands of sites, including Snapchat and Reddit. The outage, which was caused by a Domain Name System issue, has been resolved, but some services may still experience backlog processing. AWS hosts applications and computer processes for companies worldwide, highlighting the vulnerabilities of interconnected technologies.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has returned to normal operations after an internet outage caused disruptions to thousands of sites, including Snapchat and Reddit. The outage, which was caused by a Domain Name System issue, has been resolved, but some services may still experience backlog processing. AWS hosts applications and computer processes for companies worldwide, highlighting the vulnerabilities of interconnected technologies.

The outage, which began on Monday and lasted for over nine hours, affected a wide range of services, from social media platforms to gaming sites and financial services. According to Tenscope, the global financial impact of the outage could reach up to $75 million per hour, with major companies such as Amazon, Snapchat, and Zoom bearing significant losses AWS outage costs major companies millions per hour, Insurance may cover losses - with a catch^[1].

While insurance may help mitigate these losses, experts caution that policy limitations and gaps between operational exposure and insurance response exist. For instance, many policies do not trigger unless an outage lasts at least eight hours AWS outage costs major companies millions per hour, Insurance may cover losses - with a catch^[1]. Additionally, the market is experimenting with parametric options, but adoption remains low AWS outage costs major companies millions per hour, Insurance may cover losses - with a catch^[1].

AWS has confirmed that the issue was traced to problems with its domain name system (DNS), which translates web addresses into numeric IP addresses. The company reported increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services in the US-EAST-1 Region. Engineers were immediately engaged to mitigate the issue and understand its root cause AWS outage costs major companies millions per hour, Insurance may cover losses - with a catch^[1].

This outage is not the first time AWS's US-EAST-1 location in northern Virginia has experienced disruptions. The site suffered outages in 2021 and 2020, raising questions about its reliability. Experts highlight the need for better fault tolerance and the use of multiple cloud providers to reduce vulnerabilities Expert flags ‘hundreds of billions’ in losses from AWS outage that affected Reddit, Snapchat, Fortnite, and more^[2].

The outage underscores the dependence on a small number of global cloud providers, with one glitch wreaking havoc on business and day-to-day life. According to Ookla, over 4 million users reported issues due to the incident, affecting at least a thousand companies worldwide Expert flags ‘hundreds of billions’ in losses from AWS outage that affected Reddit, Snapchat, Fortnite, and more^[2].