A major internet outage on Monday, October 20, caused problems for many popular apps and websites. According to Downdetector, the outage began around 3 to 5 p.m. with many users in the Philippines reporting being unable to access services.
One of the main affected was Amazon Web Services (AWS), which serves as the backbone of various online platforms. As a result, many popular apps such as Zoom, Canva, and several social media and gaming platforms experienced errors and could not be used correctly.
According to AWS, the possible root cause of the outage is a DNS issue with the DynamoDB API endpoint located in the US-EAST-1 region. DynamoDB is a cloud database that is often used by gaming and streaming services to improve performance. When it has a problem, it can be widely affected around the world.
By 6:30 p.m., AWS reported that the major DNS issue had been resolved and operations were gradually returning to normal. However, some services are expected to experience delays while the backlog of requests is resolved.
AWS issued a statement that they are continuing to work towards full resolution of the outage and assured that service to users will return to normal as soon as possible.