Cloudflare Restores Services After Major Web Disruption Hits Global Platforms

Cloudflare restored its systems on Friday after a major web disruption caused several popular platforms to go offline. The morning outage impacted well-known sites, including Zoom and LinkedIn. However, the company quickly confirmed that it had stabilized its network and brought services back online.
The company also clarified that the disruption was not the result of an attack. Instead, a change to the way its firewall handled requests triggered the brief shutdown. As a result, several parts of its network became unavailable for a few minutes. In addition, Cloudflare began reviewing issues with its dashboard and related APIs to understand the full picture.
Experts note that pinpointing the root cause of an outage often takes time.
For example, Richard Ford, the chief technology officer at Integrity360, said the early signs point to a database update made during routine maintenance. According to him, the update overloaded the system and created a ripple effect across global sites.
The outage also led to confusion in unrelated places. Edinburgh Airport briefly halted operations early Friday, though officials later confirmed the issue had no connection to Cloudflare’s systems. This clarification helped ease concerns about wider technical failures.

Recent months have seen a rise in similar incidents.

In November, a three-hour disruption affected users of ChatGPT, League of Legends, and even public transit tools. Microsoft also dealt with a separate issue that left its Azure cloud portal offline. Amazon experienced another large-scale interruption earlier in October.
Cybersecurity leaders warn that these events may become more common. As Ford explained, organizations rely heavily on massive cloud networks. Therefore, the growing size and complexity of these platforms can increase the risk of unexpected failures. Still, companies continue working to improve stability, protect users, and deliver more reliable digital experiences.