The Paradox of the Cloud... The World Stopped When a Google Error Occurred [Im Ju-hyung's Tech Talk]

Confusion as Google Internet Service Temporarily Disrupted on the 14th
Cloud Services Relying on Internet Servers
Users Face Lower Costs but No Solutions for Errors
Experts Advise "Protect Critical Functions Through System Diversification"
Legislation Passed to Strengthen Internet Providers' Responsibility

Google error page / Photo by Internet homepage capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] On the 14th, a temporary outage occurred in services operated by the American IT company 'Google,' including YouTube, Gmail, and Google Docs. This effectively resulted in a complete 'blackout' where no services were accessible. As a result, many individuals and businesses worldwide that relied on these services experienced significant disruption.

Google headquarters revealed the cause of the outage through their official Twitter account that morning, stating, "Due to a system failure, many errors occurred during the period in services requiring user login."

According to Google’s explanation, the authentication system for Google services temporarily malfunctioned, rejecting users' 'logins.' This caused Google services that require login to become inaccessible.

Since YouTube and the Google search bar can be used without logging in, people who do not regularly use Google services likely did not experience much inconvenience.

However, those who exchange messages via Gmail, companies using Google’s document creation services, and individuals who stored files on Google Drive faced significant confusion.

Especially in the United States, where Google’s influence is substantial, the scale of damage was considerable. According to the U.S. media outlet The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), schools in Georgia that were conducting classes via video streaming services such as Google Meet and Google Classroom ultimately decided to close for the day.

This Google outage incident highlights the vulnerabilities of cloud services. Cloud technology allows users to access digital services by renting computing resources from data centers connected to the internet. Users can utilize services simply by connecting to the cloud without downloading software onto their own computers.

Inside view of a Google data center. / Photo by Google YouTube capture

For example, instead of storing large files or images on a computer’s hard drive, we can save them on Google Drive and access or download them anytime. Document editing services like Google Docs are also based on cloud servers.

From the user’s perspective, the cloud offers great benefits by enabling access to high-quality services without the need for additional storage capacity or expensive computer hardware.

The problem is that, as in this Google case, when an issue arises within the cloud provider’s internal systems, users have no way to resolve it themselves. Users are merely 'renting' the cloud provider’s software and hardware.

Especially since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work trends, our society has become more dependent on the cloud than ever before. This includes critical functions related to national security and public health.

For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been using the cloud services of the IT company 'Oracle' since the 16th (local time) for its COVID-19 vaccination program’s order, delivery tracking, and inventory management system.

Not only individuals and businesses but also government agencies that significantly impact citizens’ lives use the cloud. If problems occur in the cloud at critical moments, it could cause enormous damage.

On April 9, when online classes started, a high school student is attending an online lecture at home. Remote classes are a typical example of using cloud services. / Photo by Yonhap News

So, how should we respond to such 'cloud outages'? Experts say that the so-called 'hybrid IT' approach can be a solution. Hybrid IT means storing 50-75% of data in the cloud while keeping the remaining 25-50% on physical hardware separately.

Bob Venero, CEO of the U.S. IT company 'Holbrook,' emphasized in an interview with the IT media outlet 'CRN' on the 15th, "We must always be prepared for situations where the cloud goes down," and stressed the importance of distributing information across various systems.

He added, "Businesses must protect themselves through a hybrid IT approach," and "Especially information that is critical to an organization’s mission or essential for company growth requires even greater protection."

Meanwhile, concerns are growing that such problems will intensify in the future. Today, IT companies like Google and Amazon provide services based on internet servers called 'clouds,' and the number of individuals and companies relying on these firms is increasing.

However, companies are preparing responses to potential cloud service failures like the recent Google incident. Recently, several countries have passed laws strengthening the responsibilities of cloud providers.

In South Korea, since the 10th, the so-called 'Netflix Law' (an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act) has been in effect, requiring the securing of various safety measures in the event of technical errors causing internet service interruptions.