Major AWS Outage on October 20, 2025: What, Who, and Why
AWS outage on Oct 20 disrupted Snapchat, Reddit, Alexa, and more. Rooted in DNS issues, not cyberattack. Full impact and expert analysis. Amazon Web Services experiences outage, impacting multiple services.
Focus On: AWS outage October 2025, US-EAST-1 AWS failure, AWS DNS issue, AWS impact on apps, cloud infrastructure risks, AWS service disruption
Major AWS Outage on October 20, 2025: What Happened, Who Was Hit, and Why It Matters
On October 20, 2025, a major AWS outage in the US-EAST-1 region disrupted dozens of critical platforms including Snapchat, Reddit, Alexa, and Prime Video. No cyberattack confirmed, but the incident exposes deep vulnerabilities in U.S. cloud infrastructure.
Introduction: When Half the Internet Goes Dark
At approximately 12:11 AM PDT on October 20, 2025, Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a major outage in its US-EAST-1 region, affecting millions of users and businesses globally.
From Snapchat and Reddit to Alexa and Prime Video, the ripple effect was immediate and widespread. While AWS has reported “significant signs of recovery,” the incident has reignited concerns about America’s over-reliance on centralized cloud infrastructure.
Root Cause: DNS Resolution Failure in DynamoDB
AWS confirmed that the issue stemmed from DNS resolution errors in DynamoDB, one of its core database services. This triggered latency spikes and error rates across EC2, Lambda, and other services — causing cascading failures in apps, websites, and backend systems.
Importantly, no evidence of a cyberattack has been found. The problem is internal, but the consequences are systemic.
Services Affected (Snapshot)
| Platform | Status | Impact Summary |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Core | Partial | DNS issues in US-EAST-1 |
| Snapchat | Major | Login, snaps, messages failed |
| Partial | Loading and login issues | |
| Ring | Major | App crashes, camera offline |
| Roblox | Major | Game servers down |
| Fortnite | Major | Matchmaking, login issues |
| Alexa | Major | Voice commands failed |
| Prime Video | Partial | Streaming delays, app crashes |
| Venmo | Major | Payment processing halted |
| Robinhood | Major | Trading disruptions |
| Coinbase | Major | Login issues, funds safe |
| Slack | Major | Messaging delays |
| Zoom | Partial | Call drops, login problems |
| Duolingo | Major | Lessons failed to load |
| Signal | Major | Messaging down |
| Perplexity AI | Major | Full downtime |
| Canva | Major | Editing/exporting failed |
| PlayStation Network | Partial | Login/server issues |
Why This Matters: Infrastructure Fragility & National Risk
AWS powers over 30% of the global cloud market and hosts 4 million+ customers. This outage wasn’t just a tech hiccup — it was a wake-up call.
- Single Point of Failure: Centralized cloud dependency means one glitch can cripple half the internet.
- Economic Impact: E-commerce delays, trading disruptions, and app failures cost millions in lost productivity.
- Security Concerns: While not a cyberattack, the incident exposes how fragile digital infrastructure can be.
- Free Speech & Communications: Messaging apps like Signal and Slack were down, raising questions about resilience during emergencies.
Recovery & Recommendations
AWS engineers have mitigated most issues, and services are recovering. But users should:
- Check AWS Health Dashboard or Downdetector for live updates
- Clear app cache and avoid repeated logins to prevent lockouts
- Diversify cloud dependencies — especially for critical services
FAQs
Q: Was this a cyberattack?
No. AWS confirmed it was an internal infrastructure issue related to DNS resolution in DynamoDB.
Q: Why did so many apps go down?
Because they rely on AWS for backend services like compute, storage, and identity. A failure in one region can cascade globally.
Q: Is AWS back online?
Most services are recovering, but some apps may still experience delays or degraded performance.
Q: What can users do?
Check app status pages, restart devices, and avoid repeated login attempts.
Q: Will this happen again?
Experts warn that without decentralization and better redundancy, similar outages are likely.