Major AWS Outage Shakes Internet on October 20, 2025
On October 20, 2025, a significant outage in Amazon Web Services (AWS) led to widespread disruption across various websites and applications. Many popular platforms, including Venmo, Snapchat, and Fortnite, experienced significant service interruptions, leaving users frustrated and confused.
What Caused the AWS Outage?
According to the AWS service health page, the issues began in the US-EAST-1 region early that morning, attributed to “increased error rates and latencies.” By 5:01 AM ET, AWS identified a DNS resolution issue with its DynamoDB API, which is crucial for many of its client services. This problem temporarily cut off access to stored data, likening the scenario to “temporary amnesia” for large portions of the internet, as explained by Mike Chapple, a professor of IT at the University of Notre Dame.
Timeline of Events
- 3:11 AM ET: AWS begins investigating service disruptions in the US-EAST-1 region.
- 5:01 AM ET: The DNS issue’s connection to DynamoDB is confirmed.
- 6:35 AM ET: AWS announces the mitigation of the DNS issue, stating that most services are returning to normal.
- 8:48 AM ET: AWS indicates progress in addressing EC2 instance launches but continues to recommend flexibility in deployment zones.
- 9:42 AM ET: AWS admits to ongoing elevated errors and begins limiting new instance launches to assist recovery efforts.
- 10:14 AM ET: The company reports significant API errors across various services.
Impact on Popular Services
During the outage, numerous businesses relying on AWS were severely impacted. Users reported failures across platforms like banks, airlines, and streaming services including Disney+, Apple Music, and others. With so many dependent services struggling, it felt as though half the internet was offline. Outage reports surged on Down Detector, highlighting the widespread nature of the disruption.
AWS’s Role in the Cloud Infrastructure Market
AWS is a major player in the cloud infrastructure market, holding an estimated 30% share as of mid-2025. The service’s architecture allows for scalable computing resources, making it a go-to choice for businesses needing reliable, global infrastructure. However, this incident underscores the risks associated with such concentrated reliance on a few providers for internet stability.
Conclusion
The AWS outage on October 20, 2025, served as a reminder of our heavy dependence on cloud services and the potential vulnerabilities that come with it. As businesses continue to rely on cloud infrastructure, events like this highlight the importance of diversifying service providers to mitigate risks.
Related Keywords: AWS outage, cloud services disruption, Amazon Web Services, internet downtime, DNS resolution issue, cloud infrastructure market, technology failures.
