On October 20, 2025, a significant global outage affected Amazon Web Services (AWS), disrupting numerous popular apps and services worldwide. The issue, which began early in the morning, led to widespread connectivity problems across various platforms, including Snapchat, Fortnite, Roblox, and several banking institutions.
The Cause of the Outage
AWS identified the root cause of the disruption as a DNS (Domain Name System) resolution problem within its US-EAST-1 region, located in Northern Virginia. This issue impacted DynamoDB, AWS’s cloud database service, leading to increased error rates and latency across multiple services. As a result, users experienced difficulties accessing platforms such as Snapchat, Signal, Coinbase, and Robinhood, among others
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Impact on Financial Institutions
The outage also affected major banks, including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their accounts or perform transactions. In the UK, government services like the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website were also disrupted
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Efforts Toward Recovery
AWS engineers worked promptly to address the issue. By 10:30 a.m. UK time, the company reported “significant signs of recovery,” with most services returning online. However, some platforms, such as Ring and Chime, continued to experience elevated processing times due to a backlog of requests
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Global Response and Reflection
The outage highlighted the internet’s reliance on a few major cloud providers and the potential vulnerabilities associated with this dependency. Experts emphasized the need for diversified infrastructure to mitigate such widespread disruptions in the future
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Conclusion
While AWS services have largely recovered, the incident serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of digital platforms and the importance of robust infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted service. Users and businesses alike are advised to remain vigilant and prepared for potential future disruptions.