Is the web too reliant on a few dominant cloud providers?
Recent events suggest that the answer is yes.
On Oct 20, 2025, a major AWS outage disrupted huge parts of the internet: Amazon, Slack, Reddit, ChatGPT, Canva, Fortnite, and more went offline.
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AWS confirmed the root cause: DNS resolution issues in the US-EAST-1 region. The outage has since been resolved.
When Amazon, Google, Microsoft, or Meta experience failures, vast swathes of the web go dark.
We now have single points of failure at the infrastructure level.
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There’s also a privacy angle: most apps and services host your data on Big Tech infrastructure.
That concentration of data raises risks of misuse, loss, or exposure.
The dependence also grants these platforms significant economic and political leverage.
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What can we do to reduce risk in the future?
➡️ Use independent, privacy-first cloud & storage options like Proton Drive
➡️ Always keep local/offline backups
➡️ Use apps that work offline and sync later
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For businesses:
➡️ deploy in multiple cloud regions
➡️ use failover strategies
➡️ use content delivery networks
➡️ test disaster recovery plans
The bigger vision is an internet built on a diverse mix of infrastructure and ownership, not controlled by just a few giants.
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At Proton, we aim to be part of that vision. Our apps run independently of Big Tech’s cloud infrastructure.
They’re open source, audited, & protected under Swiss privacy laws.
We also support the Eurostack movement, a push for European infrastructure & cloud diversity.
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The web works best when no single company controls it all.
If you care about the future of the internet's resilience, privacy, and autonomy, it’s time to question the status quo and support alternatives.
Social media platforms are some of the biggest culprits in gathering up every bit of your personal data.
#TikTok, for instance, is infamous for tracking everything you do in their app. It’s difficult but possible to keep at least some of your data to yourself. 🧵
1️⃣ Don't sign up for a social media account with your real email address.
Email aliases are the easiest way to protect your identity while accessing these data-guzzling platforms. That's why #ProtonMail gives you email aliases.
Phishing attacks cost Americans over $50,000,000 in 2022. Fake email attachments are one of the quickest ways hackers can phish you. 🎣
RT this thread to your network with 7 simple tips on how to make sure that an attachment is safe. 🧵⬇️
1. 🕵️ Make sure the sender is genuine. Never open an email attachment unless you’re certain you know who it is. Hackers can spoof emails to look like they’re from someone you know. Always be cautious! @ProtonMail protects you with a warning if we think the email has been spoofed.
2. 👾 Never open suspicious attachments. If you receive an unexpected or strange email, such as threats, urgent requests, prizes, or other unknown attachments, don’t download it! Instead, report it as phishing in your @ProtonMail app.
From your bank statements and travel documents, to your company’s financial data and customer details – you can easily make sure they don’t become exposed on the internet.
Here are some ways to protect your sensitive documents when exchanging them online 🧵👇 (1/6)