Amazon Web Services confirms permanent customer data loss after Iranian strikes
Half a year after Iranian drone strikes damaged multiple Amazon data centers, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has confirmed the permanent loss of some customer data. The data was hosted in facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has acknowledged the permanent loss of some customer data, occurring half a year after Iranian drone strikes impacted several of its data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The cloud provider stated in an AWS dashboard update on September 15 that it was "unable to restore access to the resources and data" hosted in some of the war-damaged facilities. The development, first reported by Reuters, suggests the strikes inflicted catastrophic damage on the data centers.
Specifically, one of AWS's availability zones in the United Arab Emirates region, mec1-az2, experienced irretrievable data loss. Each availability zone is served by one or more Amazon data centers.
The full extent and precise nature of the data loss remain undisclosed. However, the incident highlights the vulnerability of cloud infrastructure to significant geopolitical events. AWS has not provided further details on the type of data lost or the specific customers affected.