By Allison Peck
October 20, 2025 – Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the world’s largest cloud computing providers, experienced a widespread outage on Monday, impacting users and businesses across the globe. The disruption affected a variety of essential services, from social media and gaming platforms to financial and streaming applications.
The outage originated in AWS’s US-EAST-1 region in Northern Virginia, where issues with DNS (Domain Name System) resolution and the DynamoDB database service caused widespread service interruptions. While AWS confirmed that user data was not lost, the technical problems prevented many applications from functioning properly. The company emphasized that the outage was not the result of a cyberattack.
Among the major services affected were Snapchat, WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), Fortnite, Roblox, Amazon Prime Video, Venmo, Robinhood, and Microsoft 365. Retail and food service apps, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, also faced disruptions, as did several UK institutions such as Lloyds Bank and HMRC.
AWS engineers worked to restore services throughout the day, and most systems are now operational, although some applications may still experience slower performance or intermittent errors.
This incident highlights the growing dependence of businesses and consumers on a few major cloud providers and raises concerns about the resilience of global digital infrastructure. Experts suggest that diversification in cloud services could help reduce the impact of similar outages in the future.
For now, AWS continues to investigate the root cause and monitor its network to ensure full recovery.
Sources: The Guardian, Reuters, Washington Post