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Amazon Web Services (AWS) has resolved a significant outage that disrupted numerous popular websites and apps on Monday (October 20). The outage, which began in the early hours, affected services like Venmo, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, Snapchat, and Lyft, along with Amazon's own Alexa and Ring security cameras. According to Tom's Guide, the outage stemmed from issues in the US-EAST-1 Region, a crucial hub for AWS operations.
The outage, caused by a Domain Name System (DNS) error, led to increased error rates and latencies, impacting over 1,000 businesses globally. AWS confirmed that all services returned to normal operations by Monday evening, as reported by TechRadar. The disruption lasted over 12 hours, with reports peaking around 7:50 a.m. Pacific Time.
The financial impact of the outage is substantial, with experts estimating potential losses in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Many businesses rely on AWS for their operations, and the outage highlighted the platform's critical role in internet infrastructure. Despite the resolution, some services continued to experience residual issues as AWS worked through a backlog of queued requests.
Looking ahead, businesses affected by the outage may face challenges in seeking compensation. Reuters noted that AWS service credits for downtime are often nominal and do not cover reputational harm or lost revenue. The incident underscores the importance of robust cloud infrastructure and the potential risks associated with widespread reliance on a single service provider.