Internet users around the world faced widespread disruption early on Monday because of a problem at Amazon’s cloud computing service that took down dozens of major online service.
A problem with Amazon’s cloud computing service disrupted internet use around the world Monday, taking down a broad range of online services, including social media, gaming, food delivery, streaming and financial platforms.
The disruption and the ensuing exasperation it caused served as the latest reminder that 21st century society is increasingly dependent on just a handful of companies for much of its internet technology, which seems to work reliably until it suddenly breaks down.
About three hours after the outage began, Amazon Web Services said it was starting to recover, although problems lingered for some users. AWS provides behind-the-scenes cloud computing infrastructure to some of the world’s biggest organizations. Its customers include government departments, universities and businesses, including The Associated Press.
Cybersecurity expert Mike Chapple said “a slow and bumpy recovery process” is “entirely normal.”
As engineers roll out fixes across the cloud computing infrastructure, the process could trigger smaller disruptions, he said.
“It’s similar to what happens after a large-scale power outage: While a city’s power is coming back online, neighborhoods may see intermittent glitches as crews finish the repairs,” said Chapple, an information technology professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
Amazon pinned the outage on issues related to its domain name system that converts web addresses into IP addresses, which are numeric designations that identify locations on the internet. Those addresses allow websites and apps to load on internet-connected devices.
