Millions of internet users worldwide experienced a sudden and widespread digital blackout on October 20, 2025, caused by a significant outage in Amazon Web Services (AWS), the dominant cloud infrastructure provider powering a substantial portion of the modern internet. This disruption affected a vast array of online services, including banking apps, government platforms, social media, streaming, and artificial intelligence tools, underscoring the fragile dependency on a few cloud giants.
The outage originated in AWS’s US-EAST-1 data center, located in northern Virginia, a critical hub for numerous global organisations. Amazon later attributed the failure to a network connectivity fault within its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) internal network, which hosts virtual servers relied upon by most AWS customers. This internal problem caused DNS resolution issues impacting DynamoDB, a key AWS database service required for applications to connect and function properly. Amazon engineers managed to mitigate the DNS failure by early hours of October 20, gradually restoring services, but residual backlogs caused ongoing slowdowns in some systems throughout the day.
The scale of disruption was immense. In the UK, major banks such as Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland faced login issues, alongside government services like HMRC and Universal Credit accessed through the Government Gateway portal. Globally, prominent digital platforms including Reddit, Snapchat, Zoom, Microsoft 365, Coinbase, Canva, and a variety of AI platforms like Perplexity AI experienced outages. Even Amazon’s own products such as Alexa, Prime Video, Amazon Music, and Ring were affected. The outage also extended to gaming platforms like Fortnite and Roblox and impacted educational tools such as Canvas, leaving students at institutions including Ohio State University unable to access assignments.
Reports of problems surged on monitoring service Downdetector to over 11 million worldwide, with the US and UK hardest hit. Airlines including Delta and United experienced technical disruptions, although this did not affect air travel operations. The outage was described by cybersecurity experts as an illustration of the increasingly interconnected and dependent nature of internet infrastructure on a handful of cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
Amazon’s official statement detailed a timeline beginning with elevated error rates at 11:49 PM PDT on October 19 to around 2:24 AM PDT on October 20 due to DNS resolution issues affecting DynamoDB endpoints. Recovery efforts involved temporarily throttling some EC2 operations to allow system restoration. By mid-afternoon, normal service was mostly restored, although some services like AWS Redshift and Connect dealt with residual backlogs. AWS CEO Andy Jassy has yet to comment publicly, but the company continues to investigate the root causes.
This incident rekindled political debate over the risks of relying heavily on foreign-owned tech giants for critical national infrastructure. The UK Treasury Committee has demanded clarity on why Amazon’s AWS has not been designated a “critical third party” under financial regulations, which would subject the company to greater oversight. Dame Meg Hillier, the committee chair, remarked that AWS’s prior claims of “comprehensive resilience” now appear “a little hollow,” highlighting longstanding concerns about the concentration of technological control.
Industry analysts and cybersecurity specialists emphasise that this outage sent a warning about the vulnerabilities inherent in centralised cloud ecosystems. As artificial intelligence platforms, satellite operations, financial systems, and essential public services increasingly rely on these shared digital foundations, the potential for cascading failures grows. Cybersecurity expert Rimesh Patel told Reuters, “This major online outage underscores a stark reality: business operations associated with one critical vendor in a region can cascade into global instability.”
Despite the setback, Amazon’s stock price rose by 1.6% amid recognition of AWS’s unparalleled scale and importance. The company reported that AWS generated $30.9 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2025 and serves over a million customers monthly, underscoring its role as a pillar of the internet economy.
This outage is the latest in a series of significant AWS disruptions over recent years, recalling incidents in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2023, all mostly centred on the US-EAST-1 region. Experts argue these recurring failures illustrate the need for enhanced fault tolerance, multi-cloud strategies, and diversified infrastructure to build genuine resilience in digital services.
For now, most services have returned to operational status, but the incident leaves a lingering question: in an era where nearly everything digital runs on the cloud, what is the true cost when that cloud breaks? The event serves as a stark reminder that digital convenience carries underlying risks, and the global economy’s increasing dependence on a handful of cloud providers demands urgent conversation and action to safeguard stability.
Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
10
Notes:
✅ The narrative is based on a recent event, the AWS outage on October 20, 2025, with the earliest known publication date being October 21, 2025. The report appears to be original, with no evidence of recycled content. The inclusion of updated data and specific details suggests a high freshness score.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
✅ The report includes direct quotes from experts and officials. A search for the earliest known usage of these quotes indicates they are original to this report, with no identical quotes found in earlier material. This suggests the content is potentially original or exclusive.
Source reliability
Score:
8
Notes:
⚠️ The narrative originates from Orbital Today, a specialised publication focusing on space and technology news. While it is a reputable source within its niche, it may not have the same level of recognition as major outlets like the BBC or Reuters. The report cites information from established news agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press, which adds credibility.
Plausability check
Score:
9
Notes:
✅ The claims made in the report are consistent with information from other reputable sources. The timeline of events, the technical details about the AWS outage, and the list of affected services align with reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and other news outlets. The language and tone are appropriate for the topic and region, and the report includes specific factual anchors such as dates, service names, and expert statements.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
✅ The narrative is fresh, original, and consistent with information from reputable sources. The quotes appear to be original, and the source, while specialised, is credible within its niche. The claims made are plausible and supported by specific details.
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