In 2024, the world experienced the most significant internet service outages, affecting millions of people worldwide. An analysis of data from Downdetector reveals the largest outages categorized by region and service type. These incidents highlighted the increasing reliance on technology and exposed vulnerabilities in infrastructure, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced reliability and preparedness to ensure continuity in the digital age. Here is a detailed list of the top ten biggest internet outages of the year.
1. Facebook - March 5, 2024
The biggest outage of the year was on March 5, when Facebook experienced a huge disturbance that affected more than 11.1 million users worldwide. This one also affected Instagram, so people were frustrated when they could not access their accounts.
2. CrowdStrike - July 19, 2024
On July 19, a routine software update failed at CrowdStrike. This ended up sending nearly 5 million reports from users who rely on its services into a spin. The outage hit different sectors, from emergency services to airlines, and even ride-sharing applications. This episode underscores the importance of cybersecurity companies in ensuring continuity.
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3. AT&T - March 5, 2024
The Facebook outage coincided with a massive disruption for AT&T, as an equipment configuration error crippled its network. Customers in the United States lost access to the network for more than 12 hours, and the outage racked up more than 3.4 million reports on Downdetector.
4. WhatsApp - April 3, 2024
WhatsApp outage on April 3 had impacted around 1.1 million users in Europe. This two-hour outage proved that the platform is an essential tool for communication, especially in regions where it is the primary messaging service.
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5. Microsoft 365 - June 26, 2024
On June 26, Microsoft 365 was hit by major service outages, with more than 168,000 reports from users in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan was hit the hardest, with over 139,000 reports, underlining the dependence on cloud services for business.
6. 1&1 - May 2024
In late May, German telecom operator 1&1 suffered an outage that attracted over 218,000 user reports. This incident exposed vulnerabilities in local telecom operators as connectivity demands continue to rise across the globe.
7. Deutsche Telekom - May 2024
Telecom service outages also occurred at Deutsche Telekom shortly after the 1&1 outage. More than 209,000 users in Germany were affected. Such outages point out the challenges that telecoms face in maintaining reliable service.
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8. PayPay - May 2024
The Japanese payment system PayPay experienced an outage in May, affecting over 76,000 users, disrupting transactions, and pointing to growing concerns over digital payment systems' resilience.
9. Bait (Mexico) - April 2, 2024
Bait is a mobile virtual network operator that belongs to Walmart in Mexico. It was one of the operators to face a major outage that garnered close to 99,000 user reports on April 2. This proved how even small operators could experience huge service disruptions.
10. Telkom (South Africa) - May 13, 2024
In Africa, a total of about 55,000 user reports were recorded after Telkom went down on May 13. It was part of a global trend where local telecom service providers also faced similar problems just like the global platforms.
The outages in 2024 remind us that there is a dependency on digital services and mayhem that can occur once such services fail. Examples abound, from social media bigwigs like Facebook to essential service providers such as AT&T and Microsoft; these disruptions highlight vulnerabilities in diverse sectors and underscore the necessity of having robust contingency plans to mitigate future risks.
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