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Cloudflare outage hits major websites and apps on 18 November

Cloudflare downtime disrupts OpenAI, X, Amazon Web Services and gaming servers

On 18 November, the internet faced significant disruptions as a Cloudflare outage affected websites and applications across multiple sectors. Users reported intermittent access to major services, coinciding with what the company called “a challenging day” for one of the largest networks operating online.

Downdetector, the platform tracking network anomalies, highlighted the downtime in the morning and early afternoon, showing disruptions for OpenAI, X, betting sites, dating apps, Amazon Web Services, and servers hosting popular video games. By around 16:00 CET, Cloudflare confirmed the incident had been resolved: “We believe the issue is fixed after implementing a change that restored dashboard services,” the company stated, noting that a corrective measure had been applied.

Cloudflare outage impacts network and security services

Cloudflare operates as a content delivery network (CDN), managing more than 81 million HTTP requests per second, according to the Italian version of its website. Its services include distributed DNS and internet security, acting as a bridge between site visitors and hosting providers. The platform also provides network, performance, and security solutions for online applications, mitigating threats from DDoS attacks or bots, and ensuring fast, secure page loading.

The company had scheduled maintenance and was aware of user-reported issues shortly before 11:00 CET. “We are investigating the scope of the problem and working to resolve it,” Cloudflare said. This is not the first time a Cloudflare fault has disrupted the web; similar incidents occurred in July 2019 and June 2022, underlining the platform’s critical role in internet infrastructure.

Despite the disruptions, services gradually returned to normal by the afternoon, restoring access for millions of users worldwide and reaffirming Cloudflare’s position as a backbone of online connectivity.

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