Impact of a Sudden Internet Outage

On November 18, 2025, Cloudflare experienced a significant outage affecting millions of users globally, including access to major websites like X, ChatGPT, and PayPal. The issue arose when engineers altered the system generating user verification files, causing a crash. This incident highlighted the heavy reliance on a few large tech companies for internet services, raising concerns about the fragility of the digital economy. Experts warn that such outages, while uncommon, reveal vulnerabilities in our connectivity infrastructure.