Major Web Failure Impacts Dozens Online Platforms and Applications

An extensive internet failure has affected dozens sites and applications around the world, as users reporting problems connecting to the web following issues at Amazon’s web hosting service.

The impacted platforms encompass Snapchat, the gaming platform Roblox, Signal, and the language learning app Duolingo, as well as several Amazon-managed platforms like its key e-commerce site and the Ring security home security firm.

Across the United Kingdom, Lloyds bank was affected along with its affiliates the bank Halifax and Bank of Scotland, while there were additional accounts of issues accessing the HM Revenue and Customs website on Monday morning. Furthermore across the UK, several Ring customers turned to networks to complain their security devices were failing.

Solely in the United Kingdom, reports of issues on specific applications totaled the thousands for each platform.

Officials confirmed that the outage originated in the eastern region of the US at AWS, a division that supplies vital online backbone for a host of businesses, who lease space on the company's servers. Amazon Web Services is the world’s largest web hosting platform.

Shortly after the start of the day (PDT) in the US (8 in the morning BST), Amazon confirmed “increased problem frequencies and delays” for AWS services in a zone on the east coast of the US. The widespread consequence appeared to disrupt services globally, with the Downdetector site showing problems with the corresponding services in different parts of the world.

The outage tracker Thousand Eyes, a platform that reports on web disruptions, additionally noted a rise in problems on the start of the week, and numerous instances found in the Virginia area, the location of the eastern US data center where officials confirmed the outage started.