Amazon Web Services Outage Enters Third Day, Weakening Global Connectivity
A crippling outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has persisted for hours, affecting numerous high-profile websites and apps, including those used by major airlines, universities, governments, and individuals. The prolonged disruption is causing widespread inconvenience to users worldwide.
The AWS division provides computing services to a vast array of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, rendering its outage a significant blow to global connectivity. As the situation unfolds, thousands of Venmo users reported difficulties accessing their accounts at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET, while issues with AI chatbot Claude, The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon services like Alexa emerged around the same time.
The root cause of the issue lies in a "underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of our network load balancers," according to an update from AWS. Meanwhile, thousands of users reported problems accessing various apps, websites, including Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, and online broker Robinhood.
Transportation services were also severely impacted. Southwest Airlines' early morning flights faced difficulties in dispatching efficiently due to the outage, while United Airlines saw its customers unable to access the app and website. Delta Air Lines experienced minor delays, stemming from the issue's effects on their operations.
Amtrak reported experiencing "intermittent technical difficulties," which affected SMS, email, and push notifications, leaving customers unable to book reservations or make travel arrangements through Amtrak.com or their mobile app. The nation's railroad services issued a statement advising travelers to arrive at stations 30 minutes prior to train departures.
As the situation continues to unfold, cybersecurity experts warn that AWS outages often have far-reaching consequences due to the widespread reliance on cloud computing infrastructure. "The world now runs on the cloud," said Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert. "We don't see Amazon; we just see Snapchat or Roblox." With its vast reach and impact on global connectivity, the ongoing AWS outage serves as a stark reminder of the importance of robust infrastructure in maintaining online services.
A crippling outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) has persisted for hours, affecting numerous high-profile websites and apps, including those used by major airlines, universities, governments, and individuals. The prolonged disruption is causing widespread inconvenience to users worldwide.
The AWS division provides computing services to a vast array of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, rendering its outage a significant blow to global connectivity. As the situation unfolds, thousands of Venmo users reported difficulties accessing their accounts at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET, while issues with AI chatbot Claude, The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon services like Alexa emerged around the same time.
The root cause of the issue lies in a "underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of our network load balancers," according to an update from AWS. Meanwhile, thousands of users reported problems accessing various apps, websites, including Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, and online broker Robinhood.
Transportation services were also severely impacted. Southwest Airlines' early morning flights faced difficulties in dispatching efficiently due to the outage, while United Airlines saw its customers unable to access the app and website. Delta Air Lines experienced minor delays, stemming from the issue's effects on their operations.
Amtrak reported experiencing "intermittent technical difficulties," which affected SMS, email, and push notifications, leaving customers unable to book reservations or make travel arrangements through Amtrak.com or their mobile app. The nation's railroad services issued a statement advising travelers to arrive at stations 30 minutes prior to train departures.
As the situation continues to unfold, cybersecurity experts warn that AWS outages often have far-reaching consequences due to the widespread reliance on cloud computing infrastructure. "The world now runs on the cloud," said Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert. "We don't see Amazon; we just see Snapchat or Roblox." With its vast reach and impact on global connectivity, the ongoing AWS outage serves as a stark reminder of the importance of robust infrastructure in maintaining online services.
I was trying to pay bills online but Venmo's down like what if people can't pay their rent or mortgages? And my kid's Roblox account is all messed up 
And don't even get me started on the flight delays at Southwest and United 
Can we just have one day without tech issues, please? 
u guys know when ur online banking stuff goes down like this 
it's not just the bank that suffers lol, like what if all ur favorite apps stop working at once? and ain't no one prepared for a day without their roblox fix 
meanwhile, cybersecurity experts are all like "seen it before" 
but i guess u can never be too careful when it comes to our online lives 
btw, is this the 3rd day already? 
their outage is like affecting EVERYTHING i mean who needs snapchat or roblex anyway but seriously how can one company cause so much disruption to the whole world? 
we need reliable internet & cloud computing for our modern world
. and don't even get me started on robinhood - i tried to buy some stock earlier today but couldn't even log in 
. it's like, what are we supposed to do now? go back to using landlines and dial-up internet 
anyway, gotta feel for those Amtrak customers, can't even book reservations without SMS... 30 minutes early to the station? come on! 