Earlier this week, Iranian drones Three Amazon Web Services (AWS) features affected In the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, there are global disruptions to online services. Experts believe that these attacks are the first incidents of American big technology companies being targeted in a military operation.
The tech giant acknowledged in a statement that the attacks “caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery across our infrastructure and in some cases required firefighting activities, resulting in additional water damage.” March 2 update.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard-affiliated news claimed Iran had targeted both Amazon and Microsoft facilities financial Times reportsHowever the latter has not yet experienced any outages in this area.
These incidents highlight how data centers have become prime targets on the battlefield. The surrounding region in the Middle East has been a major attraction for US hyperscalers cnbc tellsWhich could mean even more US assets are at risk.
The rise of AI is increasing the threat, requiring powerful data centers that have already emerged as flashpoints of conflict far from any theater of war. Companies including OpenAI, Oracle and Nvidia have announced major investments in the UAE Major data centers and a huge “AI campusA troubled $500 billion initiative was announced almost immediately after his inauguration as part of President Donald Trump’s “Stargate” effort.
“Iran and proxies have targeted oil fields in the past, but their attacks on UAE data centers this week show they are now considered critical infrastructure,” said Patrick Murphy, executive director of the geopolitical unit at consultancy Hilco Global. cnbc.
The strikes also highlight the growing demand for infrastructure security to keep operations online, which according to Murphy could result in governments bringing data centers in the Middle East “into the national security planning framework alongside energy facilities, telecommunications networks, water treatment plants and transportation hubs.”
Strengthening these targets can be difficult because targeting turbines, AC units and other exposed facilities can knock data centers offline.
“The Iranians see the data centers as part of the conflict,” said Matt Peel, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. foot. “This is a way to make a real impact on the area.”
Meanwhile, Amazon is grappling with increasing geopolitical instability that threatens its operations.
“Even as we work to restore these facilities, the ongoing conflict in the region means that the broader operating environment in the Middle East remains unpredictable,” The company told customers in a note. “We strongly recommend that customers with workloads in the Middle East take action now to migrate those workloads to alternative AWS regions.”
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