AWS Bahrain Disrupted: Drone Activity Impacts Cloud Services Again

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Bahrain is experiencing disruptions following reported drone activity in the region, the company confirmed Monday. The outages come less than two weeks after a similar incident impacted AWS operations in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

A spokesperson for Amazon stated the company is aware of the situation and is working to mitigate the impact on customers. “We are investigating the cause of the disruption and are taking steps to ensure the security and integrity of our infrastructure,” the spokesperson said, according to a statement reported by Reuters. Amazon is assisting customers in migrating workloads to alternative AWS regions.

The precise nature of the disruption and whether it resulted from a direct attack on AWS infrastructure remains unclear. The company has not detailed the extent of any damage or the specific services affected. However, the incidents highlight the vulnerability of critical cloud infrastructure in the Middle East amid heightened geopolitical tensions, particularly in the context of the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

Earlier in March, AWS Bahrain and the UAE experienced outages attributed to drone activity that caused physical damage to facilities. Those earlier disruptions involved structural damage, power supply interruptions, and subsequent water damage from fire suppression systems, according to reports at the time. The current situation has prompted Amazon to again advise customers with operations in the affected region to shift their workloads to other AWS locations.

AWS is a crucial component of Amazon’s business, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the company’s operating income. More broadly, the stability of AWS infrastructure is vital to a wide range of digital services and the broader digital economy. Disruptions to AWS services can have cascading effects on businesses and individuals reliant on cloud computing.

Amazon has not provided a timeline for full restoration of services in Bahrain. The company continues to move some workloads to other AWS locations.