Drones hit Amazon's cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest cloud computing provider, has confirmed that two of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates were "directly hit" by drones, disrupting services across parts of the Middle East. 

A third facility in Bahrain was damaged by "a drone strike in close proximity," the company said in an official statement.

The attacks mark an unprecedented moment in the escalating Gulf conflict — one that reaches far beyond military installations and energy infrastructure to strike at the invisible architecture upon which the modern global economy runs.

AWS is no ordinary tech company. Controlling roughly 30% of the global cloud market as of the second quarter of 2025,  ahead of Microsoft Azure at 20% and Google Cloud at 13%, according to Synergy Research Group,  it serves as the digital backbone for countless businesses, governments and everyday services worldwide. 

Banks, hospitals, airlines, streaming platforms, e-commerce giants: an extraordinary share of the world's digital activity flows through AWS servers at any given moment.

Drone strikes on its Gulf facilities are not merely an attack on Amazon. They are an attack on the infrastructure of the global economy itself.

AWS Urges Clients to Act

The company has already begun advising customers to "back up all critical data" and migrate their operations to AWS servers located elsewhere in the world — an extraordinary emergency directive that underscores the severity of the situation.

AWS had already flagged on Monday that one of its UAE data centers had been struck by unspecified "objects." Tuesday's statement removed all ambiguity.