Amazon Web Services Outage Causes Major Chaos in US... Industry Leader's Reputation Severely Hit

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Amazon Web Services (AWS), the number one cloud provider, caused temporary access disruptions in some regions of the United States, leading to major chaos. Services using AWS, such as Coinbase, Disney+, and Netflix, went down. Although most services have now resumed, AWS has suffered a significant blow to its reputation as the industry leader.

According to Bloomberg and CNBC on the 7th (local time), AWS access issues began around 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The affected areas were concentrated in the eastern regions, including New York, Boston, and Chicago.

According to Downdetector, a website that tracks service outages, AWS users started reporting problems around 10:45 a.m., with approximately 11,300 outage reports received within 30 minutes.

This disruption not only made Amazon's services unavailable but also caused delays in logistics and delivery. CNBC reported that Amazon logistics workers could not access work-related apps and were unable to scan product barcodes. Consequently, Amazon instructed workers to wait in break rooms, and delivery drivers were sent home. Amazon marketplace sellers also experienced inconvenience as they could not access the 'Seller Central' website to manage customer orders.

Companies using AWS also suffered damage. Disney's streaming subscription service Disney+, Netflix, the stock trading app Robinhood, and the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase all experienced access disruptions.

AWS stated around 11:20 a.m. that "We have started investigating the increasing errors in the eastern region," adding, "We have identified the root cause of this outage and are doing our best to restore service."

By 2 p.m. that day, the number of outage reports had decreased to 4,375, but Amazon did not disclose the exact time for full recovery. Additionally, it did not comment on the number of users affected or the duration of the outage.