10 Biggest Internet Outages in 2024: Disruptions That Shook the Digital World

In 2024, the world experienced its worst internet service outage, affecting millions of people around the world. These events highlight the growing reliance on technology and the exposed vulnerability of infrastructure, underscoring the urgent need to enhance reliability and preparedness to ensure continuity in the digital age. Here is a detailed list of the top 10 internet outages of the year.

3. AT&T – March 5, 2024

The Facebook outage coincided with a massive outage at AT&T, where equipment misconfiguration brought down its network. US customers lost network connectivity for more than 12 hours, with more than 3.4 million reports of the outage received on DownDetector.

4. WhatsApp – April 3, 2024

WhatsApp went down on April 3, affecting around 1.1 million users in Europe. The two-hour outage proves that the platform is an important communications tool, especially in regions where it is the primary messaging service.

5. Microsoft 365 – June 26, 2024

On June 26, Microsoft 365 suffered a major service outage, with more than 168,000 reports from users in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan was hardest hit, with more than 139,000 reports received, highlighting businesses’ reliance on cloud services.

6. 1&1 – May 2024

In late May, German telecom operator 1&1 suffered an outage that attracted more than 218,000 user reports. The incident exposed the vulnerabilities of local telecom operators as global demand for connectivity continues to rise.

7. Deutsche Telekom – May 2024

Shortly after the 1&1 outage, Deutsche Telekom also experienced a telecom service outage. More than 209,000 users in Germany were affected. Such outages highlight the challenges telecommunications companies face in maintaining reliable services.

8. PayPay – May 2024

Japanese payment system PayPay suffered an outage in May that affected more than 76,000 users, disrupting transactions and signaling growing concerns about the resilience of the digital payments system.

9. Bait (Mexico) – April 2, 2024

Bait is a mobile virtual network operator owned by Walmart Mexico. On April 2, the operator experienced a severe service outage, with nearly 99,000 user reports. This proves that even small operators can experience huge service disruptions.

10. Telkom (South Africa) – May 13, 2024

In Africa, Telkom logged a total of about 55,000 user reports after it went down on May 13. This is part of a global trend where local telecom service providers face similar issues as global platforms.

The disruptions of 2024 are a reminder of our dependence on digital services and the disruption that can ensue should such services fail. Examples abound, from social media giants like Facebook to essential service providers like AT&T and Microsoft; these disruptions highlight the vulnerabilities of different sectors and underscore the need for robust contingency plans to mitigate future risks.