Significant Web Outage Hits Many Online Platforms and Apps

A widespread internet disruption has impacted dozens websites and applications globally, and users noting problems accessing the internet due to difficulties at Amazon’s online infrastructure service.

The affected platforms encompass the social media app Snapchat, the gaming platform Roblox, Signal, and Duolingo, as well as a host of Amazon-managed operations including its key e-commerce site and the Ring doorbell device manufacturer.

Throughout Britain, Lloyds bank was impacted along with its subsidiaries the bank Halifax and Bank of Scotland, with additional accounts of problems using the HM Revenue and Customs website on Monday morning. Additionally in Britain, many Ring device owners used online platforms to complain their security devices were failing.

Solely in the United Kingdom, notifications of problems on particular platforms ran into the tens of thousands for each app.

The company stated that the problem began in the eastern region of the United States at Amazon Web Services, a section that supplies vital online backbone for a host of businesses, who utilize space on AWS infrastructure. Amazon Web Services is the world’s largest cloud computing platform.

Shortly after the start of the day (PDT) in the US (8 in the morning BST), officials reported “increased problem frequencies and latencies” for Amazon's platforms in a area on the Atlantic seaboard of the America. The ripple effect was seen to affect services around the world, and the Downdetector site indicating issues with the corresponding services in multiple continents.

The monitoring service Thousand Eyes, a tool that reports on online failures, also reported a rise in issues on the start of the week, including several cases located in the Virginia area, the region of Amazon’s US-East-1 region where the company stated the issues originated.