Users were blocked from websites on Friday due to a disruption to web infrastructure giant Clouflare.
Angela Lang / CNET
Several websites became unavailable on Friday after Cloudflare experienced outages in parts of its network. The affected system, called a DNS resolution, connects web users to the correct websites when they type a URL. Those affected reportedly include websites for Shopify, Politico, Discord and League of Legends, according to TechCrunch.
In an incident report, Cloudflare said the disruption was not the result of an attack. “We believe we have addressed the root cause and are now monitoring the systems for stability,” the company said in the report. The interruption appears to have lasted about 30 minutes.
Cloudflare is a major player in the world of web infrastructure, helping to protect websites from attacks that can take them offline, in addition to routing high volumes of Internet traffic. The company’s DNS 1.1.1.1 resolution service helps connect web users to websites by translating the site’s URL to a specific location on the web, called an IP address.
When that process breaks, a user’s web browser cannot navigate to the website. Internet service providers can also make these connections, and Google runs its own DNS solver called 8.8.8.8.
Cloudflare did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
