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a major Amazon Web Services The outage disrupted many online platforms on Monday – leaving people around the world unable to access some banks, chatting apps, online food ordering and more.
History shows that these types of system outages can be short-lived, and are often minor inconveniences – like ordering lunch in person or having to wait a few hours for a gaming platform to come back online – compared to longer-term problems, but recovery can be a bumpy road. And for people trying to transfer money, communicate with loved ones or get to work using affected services, the disruptions are especially stressful.
consumers What they may not realize is how many platforms they use rely on the same back-end technology. AWS is one of the few major cloud service providers trusted by businesses, governments, universities, and other organizations. Monday’s outage is an important reminder of this – and experts stress that it’s important to diversify our online lives where we can, or even have some “old school” options to use as a backup plan.
“Don’t put all your eggs in one digital basket,” said Lee McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, adding that these types of disruptions aren’t going away any time soon.
So what, if anything, can you do to prepare for disruptions? Here are a few tips.
Keep your money in more than one place
During Monday’s AWS disruptions, users on outage tracker DownDetector reported problems with platforms like Venmo and online broker Robinhood. banks As Halifax and Lloyds also said some of their services were temporarily affected, although some customers continued to report outstanding problems.
Even if short-term, disruptions affecting online banking and other financial services can be stressful for most, especially if a consumer is waiting for a paycheck, trying to pay rent, checking investment funds or making a purchase. While much of your stress will depend on the scope and length of the disruptions, experts say a good rule of thumb is to park your money in multiple places.
“I’m a big fan of having multiple accounts that can give us access to a certain amount of money at any time,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. This underlines the importance of keeping an emergency savings account, he explains, or other accounts separate from something like a day-to-day checking account, for example.
It’s also a good idea to keep some cash in a safe place, he says — and emergency preparedness agencies recommend having physical money on hand in case of a natural disaster or power failure. Still, it’s important to keep hoarding in moderation.
“We shouldn’t overdo it, because we could lose cash – it could be stolen or misplaced,” Hamrick said. And in terms of overall prudent financial practices, he points out, you also wouldn’t want a lot of money “stored under the mattress” if interest could be earned in the bank instead.
Depending on the scope of the outage, some other options may still be available.
For example, if digital banking apps are offline, consumers can visit a branch in person, or call a representative by phone – although wait times are often longer during widespread disruption. And if the disruption involves a third-party cloud service provider, as seen with AWS on Monday, it’s not always something the bank or other affected business can fix on its own.
Maintain backup communication channels
Monday’s AWS outage also affected some communication platforms, including social media sites snapchat and messaging app Signal.
In our increasingly digital world, people have become more dependent on online channels to call or chat with loved ones, communicate at work, etc. And while it may be easy to become accustomed to certain apps or platforms, experts note that the outage serves as an important reminder to implement backup plans.
This could simply take the form of making sure you can reach people you talk to regularly through different apps, again depending on the scope of the disruption. If the broader Internet and cloud services that smartphones rely on are affected, you may need to turn to more traditional phone calls and SMS text messages.
McKnight explains that SMS texting relies on “old telecom infrastructure”. For this reason, he says it’s important to have contacts up to date for SMS texting, “and not just the fancier and more fun services we use day to day” in case of emergencies.
Meanwhile, there may also be disruptions that specifically affect phone services. For non-cloud service outages in the past, affected carriers have suggested users try Wi-Fi calling on both iPhones and Android devices.
Save your work on multiple platforms – and monitor service updates
Overall, McKnight suggests “build your own personal, multi-cloud strategy.”
For online work or projects, this may look like storing documents on multiple platforms—such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud, McKnight explains. It’s important to recognize potential security risks and make sure all your accounts are secure, he added, but “having some diversity in how you store information” can also reduce headaches if certain services are disrupted.
Many businesses may also have their own solutions or contingency plans if the technology they use goes offline. While widespread recovery from Monday’s outage is still dependent on Amazon’s extensive mitigation efforts, individual platforms’ social media or online status pages may contain updates or details about alternative operations.
You can also check outage trackers like DownDetector to see if other people are experiencing similar issues.
Even after recovery, experts also suggest checking payments, online orders and messages you may have sent during or near the outage – in case nothing happened.
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