5 godzin temu
MPs have raised serious concerns about "key parts" of UK IT infrastructure being hosted abroad following a major Amazon Web Services outage on Monday. The disruption affected critical government services including HMRC alongside major banks and popular online platforms.
Downdetector recorded thousands of outage reports across multiple platforms between 9am and 10am on Monday. Services affected included Snapchat, Starbucks, Slack, Ring, and gaming platforms Roblox and Fortnite.
Lloyds Banking Group saw 6,925 outage reports at 9.31am, with Halifax displaying error messages stating: "Sorry, we're unable to process your request at the moment. We're currently having some technical problems." Bank of Scotland was also affected by the widespread disruptions.
VodafoneThree reported its networks operated normally but confirmed the outages affected some of its apps and websites. AWS confirmed "significant signs of recovery" by 10.27am and announced the underlying DNS issue had been "fully mitigated" by 11.35am.
Parliamentary Questions
The Treasury Committee has questioned why Amazon Web Services has not been designated a Critical Third Party under new regulations introduced this year. Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier specifically asked if the Treasury was concerned that "seemingly key parts of our IT infrastructure are hosted abroad".
The new CTP rules allow regulators to intervene and improve resilience of key service providers to the financial sector. MPs questioned why the Treasury had not designated AWS or any other major technology firm under these regulations.
The committee also requested information about Treasury work with HMRC to investigate what went wrong and prevent future incidents. The tax authority appeared to be among the services affected by the widespread outages.
Technical Impact
Professor Oli Buckley from Loughborough University explained that DNS acts like "a phone book for the internet" by directing devices to specific services. DNS errors cause thousands of systems to slow down as they attempt to locate services until they "eventually just stop trying".
Professor Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey noted that error propagation across the internet takes time to reach all corners, making outages appear longer than expected for minor technical faults. He emphasised how interdependent modern infrastructure has become, with many online services relying on third-party physical infrastructure.
Marijus Briedis from NordVPN warned the outages highlighted how major companies rely on the same digital infrastructure, creating a domino effect when problems occur. He cautioned that technical faults could provide opportunities for hackers and warned of possible increases in phishing and malware attacks.
An HM Treasury spokesperson said: "We are aware of the situation impacting Amazon Web Services. We and the Bank of England are monitoring the situation and are in close contact with firms."
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
