AWS outage resolved, Amazon confirms, after global disruption hits major sites like Snapchat and Reddit

Amazon says AWS cloud service is back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide

Amazon.com cloud service returned to normal operations on Monday afternoon, the company said, after an internet outage that caused global turmoil among thousands of sites, including some of the web's most popular apps like Snapchat and Reddit.

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Summary

AWS Outage: Major websites and apps affected worldwide.
Root Cause: Originated from AWS's U.S.-based data center, US-EAST-1.
Affected Platforms: Gaming, financial services, and communication platforms were hit.
Recovery: Service resumed, though some backlogs remain.

Amazon's AWS Service Restores After Major Global Outage

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has confirmed that its cloud services returned to normal on Monday afternoon, following a massive outage that disrupted businesses across the globe. The downtime, which impacted thousands of websites and applications—ranging from Snapchat to Reddit—created chaos in both business and personal activities worldwide.

Amazon clarified that some services still faced a backlog, which would take several more hours to process.

The Global Impact of the AWS Outage

The outage, which occurred on October 20, 2025, left businesses from London to Tokyo struggling to access crucial services. This was not just a tech issue—it was a widespread disruption affecting everyday activities. Popular services like Venmo, Zoom, and several gaming platforms were among the many that experienced disruptions.

AWS hosts critical applications for businesses and governments worldwide. The outage disrupted daily activities such as booking airline tickets and even paying for a haircut, highlighting the vulnerability of digital services in today's interconnected world.

The Largest Disruption Since the 2024 CrowdStrike Malfunction

This incident is being compared to the massive CrowdStrike failure of 2024, which similarly crippled critical infrastructure like hospitals, banks, and airports. While the AWS outage was eventually resolved, the ripple effects across industries underscored the risks associated with relying on a handful of global cloud service providers.

Root Cause: The EC2 Network Health Monitoring System

AWS identified the root cause of the outage as a failure in an underlying subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of network load balancers. This failure occurred within the "Elastic Compute Cloud" (EC2) service, which is AWS's on-demand cloud infrastructure.

Although AWS managed to resolve the issue by 3:00 PM PT (2200 GMT), they noted that some services, including AWS Config, Redshift, and Connect, would need additional time to clear the backlog of pending operations.

Why the US-EAST-1 Data Center Is a Problem Area

The issues primarily stemmed from AWS’s northern Virginia data center, known as US-EAST-1, which has experienced similar outages in the past. This data center is the oldest and largest of AWS's facilities and often serves as the default region for many AWS services.

Amazon has not provided any clarity as to why US-EAST-1 is repeatedly impacted by service disruptions, but the center’s history of issues raises questions about its reliability.

The Fragility of Global Digital Infrastructure

This outage serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of global digital infrastructure. The world’s most popular websites and apps, including major banks, retailers, and telecom companies, rely on a limited number of cloud service providers. When one provider experiences a malfunction, the consequences ripple through many other industries, causing widespread disruption.

As Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, puts it, "This outage highlights our dependency on relatively fragile infrastructures."

Why Is This Problem So Widespread?

According to Nishanth Sastry, director of research at the University of Surrey’s Department of Computer Science, the primary issue is the over-reliance on a small number of cloud providers. “All these big companies have relied on just one service,” he said. When that service fails, the impact is widespread.

More than 4 million users reported issues during the outage, according to Ookla’s Downdetector platform.

The Financial Impact of AWS Outages

For major businesses, even a few hours of cloud downtime translates to millions of dollars in lost productivity and revenue. Ryan Griffin, U.S. cyber practice leader at insurance broker McGill and Partners, explained the financial ramifications of such disruptions, especially for large enterprises.

Despite this, Wall Street largely brushed off the disruption, with Amazon’s stock rising 1.6% to $216.48 by the end of the day.

Which Platforms Were Affected?

Social Media: Snapchat, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter) were impacted.
Gaming: Platforms like Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, and Clash of Clans were down.
E-commerce & Services: Amazon’s own services, including its shopping website and Prime Video, faced disruptions.
Finance & Communication: Venmo, Zoom, Coinbase, and Robinhood were also hit by the outage.

Expert Opinions: What Needs to Change?

Ken Birman, a computer science professor at Cornell University, emphasized that software developers need to implement better fault tolerance in their systems. "When developers cut costs and don't build adequate protections for their applications, that's when companies get into trouble during outages," he said.

Birman’s advice: businesses should not only rely on AWS but also consider building redundancy with other cloud providers to mitigate the risk of a single point of failure.

Conclusion: The Growing Risk of Cloud Dependence

This event highlights a significant risk in today’s highly digital and interconnected world—our dependence on cloud services. While AWS remains the largest cloud provider globally, this outage serves as a warning for businesses to diversify their reliance on cloud providers and build more resilient systems.

As digital infrastructures continue to grow, it’s essential for developers and companies to be mindful of the vulnerabilities posed by such service interruptions.