On Dec. 7, 2021, more than 27,000 customers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) — which includes Ring Security Cameras, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, Facebook, Venmo and more— experienced site outages, slow streaming or complete shut-offs of services. The outage also affected Amazon’s ability to deliver on its usually two-day shipping promise and delayed updates for customers.
Sitting in my home office that afternoon, I noticed our Ring Security camera wasn’t working. Having temporarily forgotten that Ring was owned by Amazon, I chalked it up to poor internet connection or a malfunction with the camera. It wasn’t until later that evening when my husband told me the issue was an AWS outage that I began to realize the aptitude of the situation.