Could Amazon Doom America? Inside the Growing Risks of AWS Dependency

The Cloud Giant That America Can’t Live Without

There was a time when Amazon was just a place to buy books. Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the backbone of nearly everything Americans use, from online banking and Netflix binges to government intelligence systems.

But that dominance has created a new kind of national vulnerability. If AWS were to go down, even for a few hours, the ripple effect could paralyze parts of the U.S. economy and government operations.

It’s a sobering thought and one cybersecurity experts say the country hasn’t fully reckoned with.

The Digital Spine of the Nation

AWS isn’t just another cloud provider; it’s the invisible infrastructure keeping America’s systems alive. More than 90% of Fortune 100 companies, including Apple, Netflix, Bank of America, and Disney, rely on it. So do 7,500 government agencies around the world.

In the U.S., that includes the Department of Defense, CIA, NSA, and even healthcare and public safety systems. AWS helps process real-time battlefield data, store classified intelligence, and run digital benefit programs for millions of Americans.

A recent government deal, the “OneGov” initiative, allocated $1 billion in AWS credits and training for federal agencies through 2028. Meanwhile, the Pentagon, Navy, and CIA all hold multi-million-dollar cloud contracts with Amazon.

In the words of one CIA executive, “Had it not been for the partnership with AWS that the CIA took over 10 years ago, we would not be here today.”

That statement, meant as praise, now feels chilling.

A Single Point of Failure

The more critical systems AWS powers, the bigger the question looms: what happens if it fails?

Recent outages have already offered a glimpse. A 12-hour AWS outage earlier this year crippled major platforms and financial services. In 2024, the infamous CrowdStrike and Microsoft 365 meltdown caused an estimated $5.4 billion in global losses, freezing operations in hospitals, airports, and stock exchanges.

Even short disruptions are costly. Economists estimate that just a few hours of downtime across major cloud networks could drain hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity.

And yet, AWS, a private company, carries the same level of national significance as the power grid or the military’s command center. Except unlike those, it’s not owned or directly controlled by the government.

When the Cloud Becomes a Target

Here’s the nightmare scenario cybersecurity experts warn about: in a time of conflict, a foreign adversary doesn’t need to bomb a data center or hack the Pentagon. It just needs to disrupt AWS.

Because AWS powers both civilian and classified networks, even temporary outages could cripple financial systems, disrupt communications, and compromise defense operations.

It’s a single point of failure, one that’s become more visible with each outage.

“The U.S. and its economy have essentially handed adversaries a target,” one cybersecurity analyst told TechPolicy Review. “You don’t need to invade a country when you can turn off its cloud.”

Lessons from the Past and Warnings for the Future

Over the past decade, AWS has faced multiple outages:

• December 2021: 7-hour outage affects streaming platforms and delivery apps.

• March 2023: 3-hour failure impacts global businesses.

• 2025: A 12-hour outage disrupts multiple financial and communication systems.

Other tech giants haven’t been immune, either. Google Cloud, Cloudflare, and Microsoft Azure have all suffered similar incidents proof that the world’s digital systems are increasingly interlinked and fragile.

But Amazon’s dominance makes it the most concerning. Experts estimate that nearly 40% of global cloud infrastructure runs on AWS.

That means when AWS sneezes, the world catches a cold.

The Invisible Threat We Can’t Ignore

From Pretoria to Palo Alto, digital dependence is reshaping how nations think about sovereignty and security. The U.S. the world’s most connected superpower, has quietly built its future on someone else’s servers.

And while AWS remains remarkably resilient and secure, its scale is also its Achilles heel.

If Amazon ever falters, through attack, accident, or internal failure, the fallout won’t just be technical. It could be geopolitical.

So, could Amazon doom America? Not by intent. But through the sheer gravity of its influence, it already holds the power to bring the nation to a digital standstill.

{Source: IOL}

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