Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that it has fully restored service following extensive internet outages on Monday that left many users unable to access several major websites. The cloud computing giant, which powers a large portion of the publicly available internet infrastructure and countless digital tools, confirmed in an update Monday evening that all AWS systems had resumed normal operations.
Widespread internet outages occurred throughout the day on Monday after the major outage at AWS disrupted access to popular platforms, apps, and games for millions of users. AWS went down due to a malfunction in one of its core database systems, the company said.
AWS had previously said on Monday that the company was continuing to “apply mitigation steps,” adding that “we are in the process of validating a fix,” referring to a specific problem set off by the connectivity issue announced shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern Time.
AWS explained that the disruption originated from a problem with its EC2 internal network, which in turn affected several services, including DynamoDB, SQS, and Amazon Connect. By 6:35 a.m. ET, AWS announced that the database issue had been “fully mitigated” but warned that users might still encounter performance delays. However, just a few hours later — at 10:14 a.m. ET — the company acknowledged ongoing “significant API errors and connectivity issues across multiple services in the US-EAST-1 Region” and said it was still investigating. The company later said in a statement at 11:43 a.m. ET that “the root cause is an underlying internal subystem responsible for monitoring the health of our network load balancers,” adding that it was temporarily limiting new customer requests while restoring full functionality.
The disruption impacted major platforms including Snapchat – who confirmed that some users were “having issues,” while social media posts showed people losing access to friends lists and daily streaks – as well as the McDonald’s app and gaming services like Roblox and Fortnite. The outage highlighted how dependent businesses and institutions have become on cloud-based technology. According to the tracking site Downdetector, the outage prompted more than 6.5 million user reports, showing that over 1,000 different websites and online services were offline.
Additional major companies also affected included including Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, and Lyft, as well as United Airlines, T-Mobile, Starbucks, and Delta, who reported minor flight delays. Users of Medicare, the U.S. federal health insurance program, said they were unable to log in during its open enrollment period. In the U.K., the HM Revenue and Customs website also went down for some users. The outage affected even Amazon’s own services like Prime Video, with Ring doorbell cameras and Alexa-enabled smart devices being rendered unresponsive, while others couldn’t access the Amazon website or download books to their Kindle devices.
Similarly, media outlets such as Disney, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Associated Press also reported problems, with the AP activating its “AP Backup” system to maintain access to breaking news. Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., also reported its platform was down due to the AWS outage; with other apps including Robinhood, Venmo, and Duolingo also affected.
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