The issue was resolved by 6:35 a.m., but lingering EC2 virtual machine errors delayed full recovery until late Monday, according to the AWS Health Dashboard and Reuters .
The outage affected a broad spectrum of services, including Disney+, Coinbase, Lyft, and The New York Times, with Downdetector reporting thousands of user complaints.
X users highlighted disruptions to Ring cameras and OpenAI APIs, with some humorously noting impacts on games like Clash of Clans.
Mike Chapple, a University of Notre Dame professor, described the event as the internet experiencing “temporary amnesia,” per CNN , as apps lost access to critical data.
AWS, commanding a 30% share of the global cloud market per Statista , is a backbone for countless businesses due to its scalable infrastructure.
However, this outage—the third major US-EAST-1 disruption in five years—exposed vulnerabilities in centralized cloud reliance.
By 10:14 a.m. ET, AWS mitigated most issues, but a backlog of requests slowed full restoration, per BBC . Coinbase and other platforms assured users that funds remained secure despite access hiccups.
The incident has reignited calls for multi-cloud strategies to avoid single-point failures. Experts recommend leveraging AWS’s global regions or pairing with providers like Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud to enhance resilience.
Businesses affected can monitor real-time updates via AWS Status or user reports on Downdetector . For individuals, checking service-specific status pages, like Epic Games’ status for Fortnite, can clarify ongoing impacts.
This outage highlights the fragility of internet infrastructure dependent on a few key players. As companies recover, the event may push more to diversify cloud setups, reducing risks in an increasingly digital world. For now, users and businesses should stay vigilant for lingering effects and explore backup options to ensure continuity.
