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Many websites and apps go dark as Amazon's cloud unit reports global outage
Amazon's cloud service AWS experienced a global outage, affecting many companies and popular apps like Fortnite and Snapchat. The US-EAST-1 region reported increased error rates, disrupting services reliant on AWS, including financial platforms and gaming sites. Several companies, including Perplexity and Coinbase, confirmed their services were impacted.
Key points
- AWS experienced a global outage on Monday in the US-EAST-1 region.
- Connectivity issues affected popular apps and websites such as Fortnite, Snapchat, and Coinbase.
- Perplexity's CEO confirmed their service was down due to an AWS issue.
- AWS provides essential cloud infrastructure, impacting various sectors when disrupted.
- Other affected services included Uber's Lyft, payment platforms Venmo and Chime, and messaging app Signal.
Why it matters
- In 2025, cloud computing trends suggest increasing reliance on single-service providers, making outages significantly impactful.
- Historically, major outages have emphasized the need for diversified cloud strategies among companies.
- As cloud services continue to dominate the IT landscape, such outages highlight vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure and society's dependence on them.
The AWS outage underscores the critical role of cloud services in our daily digital interactions, emphasizing the need for robust contingency plans in an increasingly cloud-dependent world.