Why Do More Online Platforms Suffer Global Outages Today?

Recently, more online platforms and services have been suffering hour-long outages. Just this week, both WhatsApp and Apple digital platforms went out globally due to some supposed technical issues.

Before that, McDonald's and AT&T recorded a major global service outage after their digital platforms became unusable for nearly half a day.

While service disruptions are not a foreign concept in the tech industry, the increasing trend of outages may signal a growing issue in the digital security and service systems we use today.

Surge in Cyberattacks Impact Tech Companies

A study from the Harvard Business Review indicates a surge in cyberattacks throughout 2023 as threat actors employ more sophisticated methods to either disrupt operations or steal important data for ransom.

Aside from government portals, among the primary targets of these cybercrime campaigns are healthcare and major global businesses where hackers can steal thousands of vital information of their customers in an instant.

Relevant examples were the recent cyberattacks on UnitedHealthcare, AT&T, and Microsoft that led to the personal data of many of its customers and staff being compromised.

Digital experts estimate that hackers were able to steal billions of dollars from these cyberattacks despite government efforts to shut down the campaigns.

More worrisome, studies noted that threat actors have started using AI technology to further expand their operations, either to disrupt major services or to spy on the companies.

Technical Issues, Server Vulnerabilities Causing Service Disruptions

However, all of the blame does not solely lie on hackers attempting to take down the big corporations.

Much similar to what is happening on X (formerly Twitter) when Elon Musk took over, tech companies, particularly those in social platforms, have been noted to suffer more internal issues in maintaining their platforms.

A good explanation for this can be pointed to more users accessing social media, making it more difficult for servers to keep up with the demand.

Although recent reports suggest neglect on the companies' part in upgrading their technical capabilities to keep up with the increasing functions of their platforms.

The advent of AI has brought in more social media sites and even digital retail platforms to further integrate the technology into their features, pushing the capacity of their servers to their limits.