Google: YouTube, Gmail and other services inaccessible for a few hours for thousands of users

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Google has begun to restore its services, affected by a malfunction on a global scale after 12:30 Italian time. For a couple of hours, users were unable to access many of Google’s platform services. On social media, the first breakdown reports started around 12, as can also be read on the DownDetector website that collects error messages. Here on the Google page you will find the updated status of the services. Around 4:00 p.m., the communication about the reasons for the interruption of the service in the official Google Cloud account arrived: “Google found an interruption in the authentication system for about 45 minutes, due to an internal problem with the space of storage. Services that require users to be online have encountered a high percentage of errors. “ Then the problem would be all internal, related to storage services and aauthentication systems. Someone on social media commented: “It’s not like saying sorry, but we’ve run out of hard drive space but we’re close.”

What happened this morning?

Basically, if you tried to access Gmail or YouTube, a generic error message was returned saying, “Sorry, your account is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest that you try again in a few minutes. ” Thousands of reports in Italy. Gmail, YouTube, but also software used for distance learning, such as Google Meet and Google Classroom, are out of order. In essence, the malfunction involved almost all the services of the Google platform and not only in Italy but almost all over the world.

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The centrality of Google

However, when it increases in size, a few more questions can be asked. The most disparate theses related to possible incursions by cybercriminals start immediately online, but there is no evidence of a hacker attack from the outside. However, according to Google, the crash, which began at 12:45 (Italian time), would have been resolved at 13:35. Google’s infrastructure is among the largest in the world and potentially capable of withstanding traditional forms of intrusion from the outside, such as DDos (Denial of Service). In November we recalled the malfunction of some Amazon Aws services, which put many services such as Roku, Flickr and Adobe in crisis. It lasted only a few hours, but even in this case not much is known about the causes.

Certainly, the “down” this morning brings the centrality of digital platforms in people’s lives back to the top of the agenda. In particular, Google is perhaps the most extensive of all. Their services range from email to distance learning, from video game streaming to business productivity applications. For some time now, Google is no longer just a search engine, but the largest infrastructure along with Amazon and Microsoft through which services on the Web for businesses and citizens travel. That is precisely why it will be essential to understand the reasons for this blockade. If it was a security problem or something more serious.

(Article updated at 5:22 pm on December 14)