Global network outages drop 46% in late September, per ThousandEyes data
ThousandEyes reports a sharp decline in global and US network disruptions for the week of September 28 through October 4, with cloud outages falling significantly.
Key points
- Global network outage events fell to 303, a 46% decrease from the previous week’s 559 incidents.
- US-based outages dropped 59% to 168 events, while public cloud network disruptions fell 68% in the region.
- Arelion experienced a 19-minute outage on September 30 affecting customers in the US and Colombia.
ThousandEyes, a Cisco subsidiary, recorded 303 global network outage events during the week of September 28 through October 4. This figure represents a 46% decrease compared to the 559 outages reported in the prior week, according to data shared with Network World. The monitoring firm tracks performance challenges across ISPs, cloud providers, and collaboration services.
The United States saw a significant reduction in disruptions, with 168 outages reported during this period. This is a 59% decline from the 406 outages recorded the previous week. The data covers incidents across internet service providers, cloud service provider networks, collaboration application networks, and edge networks including DNS and content delivery networks.
Breakdown by Network Category
Public cloud network outages experienced the steepest drop globally, falling from 280 to 101 events. This marks a 64% decrease compared to the week prior. In the United States, public cloud outages declined even more sharply, dropping from 260 to 83 incidents. That represents a 68% reduction in US-based cloud network disruptions week-over-week.
Internet service provider outages also decreased but at a slower pace. Globally, ISP outages fell from 162 to 129, a 20% drop. In the US, ISP outages dropped from 74 to 50, which is a 32% decrease. Collaboration application network outages saw a minor change, increasing from zero to one event both globally and in the US during this reporting period.
Specific Outage Incidents
On September 30, Arelion, a global Tier 1 provider headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, suffered an outage impacting multiple regions. The disruption lasted 19 minutes and affected customers and downstream partners in the US and Colombia. The issue was first observed around 12:10 AM EDT and appeared centered on nodes in Atlanta, Georgia.
The number of affected nodes in Atlanta dropped about 20 minutes into the incident. This reduction coincided with a decrease in impacted downstream partners and regions. The outage was cleared around 12:35 AM EDT. Arelion was formerly known as Telia Carrier.
On the same day, Ezee Fiber, a US-based ISP headquartered in Houston, Texas, experienced an outage. The disruption impacted some of its partners and customers across the United States. ThousandEyes monitors these events to provide weekly roundups on internet and cloud traffic performance.
What should you do?
Security and network professionals should review their own monitoring data for any unexplained latency or packet loss during the reported outage windows. Organizations relying on specific cloud regions or ISPs should verify the health status of their primary providers. Teams should ensure their redundancy plans are tested and ready for immediate activation if similar disruptions occur.
What to do and how to stay safe: ThousandEyes
- Review internal network logs for anomalies during the September 28 to October 4 window to identify any correlated service degradation.
- Verify the status of critical cloud services and ISPs that may have been affected by the reported regional outages.
- Confirm that failover mechanisms and redundant network paths are functional and can handle traffic if primary links fail.
- Monitor vendor status pages for updates on resolved incidents and post-mortem reports to understand root causes.
Step-by-step guide: Cloud Misconfiguration Response: Containment, Recovery and Prevention Steps
General security guidance from the Threat Times newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
How many global network outages were recorded in late September?
ThousandEyes reported 303 global network outage events during the week of September 28 through October 4.
Which major provider experienced an outage on September 30?
Arelion, a global Tier 1 provider, experienced a 19-minute outage on September 30 that impacted customers in the US and Colombia.
Did collaboration app outages increase or decrease?
Collaboration application network outages increased from zero to one event both globally and in the US during the reporting period.
