Major Internet Failure Hits Numerous Sites and Apps

A large-scale internet outage has impacted numerous sites and mobile apps around the world, as users noting troubles connecting to the web following issues at the online infrastructure system.

The disrupted services comprise the social media app Snapchat, Roblox, Signal, and Duolingo, in addition to a host of Amazon-operated platforms such as its main retail site and the Ring security device manufacturer.

In the UK, Lloyds bank was affected in addition to its subsidiaries Halifax and Bank of Scotland, and also reports of problems reaching the HMRC site on the start of the week. Also in the UK, several Ring device owners turned to social media to complain their security devices were malfunctioning.

Solely in the United Kingdom, accounts of issues on specific applications reached the tens of thousands for each app.

The company stated that the outage began in the eastern region of the America at Amazon Web Services, a section that provides essential online backbone for many firms, who lease capacity on the company's servers. The cloud platform is the biggest global web hosting service.

Just after the start of the day (PDT) in the US (8 in the morning BST), officials reported “elevated error rates and latencies” for the cloud services in a zone on the eastern US of the United States. The cascading impact appeared to affect apps globally, and the outage tracking website indicating issues with the same sites in different parts of the world.

The outage tracker Thousand Eyes, a tool that reports on internet outages, also reported a increase in issues on that morning, and numerous instances found in the Virginia area, the location of the eastern US data center where the company stated the issues started.