Internet down – latest update: major outage hits Amazon, UPS, PlayStation and dozens more

Akamai, which provides domain name system services, says it is having problems. There is no guarantee that this is the cause of the problem, but it seems to be part of it, especially since there are so many affected websites on its customer page.

(The Domain Name System, or DNS, is something like the phone book or the Internet map – it matches your computer with the websites it searches for.)

“We are aware of an emerging issue with the Edge DNS service,” read a post on its status page. “We are actively investigating the problem. “

Earlier issues like this were not the result of issues with the companies running the website, but rather the companies running the internet.

Just over a month ago, for example, there was an equally large outage, which was then linked to a problem at Fastly. Even a small glitch at one of these companies can very quickly lead to a large part of the internet going offline, as there are a very limited number of organizations providing the infrastructure that underpins the entire internet.

Here is the UK version. Also very red – although obviously with some different websites and apps.

Here’s the US version of Down Detector, showing all the sites people are reporting issues with:

Two of the most prominent services to drop are for games – PlayStation Network and Steam, both of which appear to be offline.

… To The independentlive coverage of an Internet outage that is destroying many of the world’s largest websites.