Key Highlights
- Cloudflare reported a wide range of causes for global outages in Q3 2025.
- Government-directed shutdowns and cyberattacks were among the main culprits.
- Natural disasters, infrastructure damage, and software failures also affected internet connectivity.
- The report highlights the vulnerability of global internet infrastructure to various disruptions.
Global Internet Disruptions Continue in Q3 2025
In its latest quarterly report on internet disruptions, Cloudflare detailed a range of factors that affected global connectivity during the third quarter of 2025. The company noted that outages were caused by natural disasters, government-directed shutdowns, infrastructure damage, and even software failures.
Government Shutdowns and Cyberattacks
Cloudflare highlighted several instances where governments deliberately shut down internet access in the interest of national security or to prevent cheating during exams. For example, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan once again pulled the plug on the internet during exam seasons to stop students from cheating. In Syria, officials even boasted about dismantling “organized exam cheating networks” using advanced technologies.
Government-directed shutdowns were not limited to exam periods. Cloudflare reported that in Sudan, Syria, and Iraq, there were instances where governments shut down the internet for extended periods, often citing reasons such as national security or political stability concerns.
Natural Disasters and Infrastructure Damage
The report also detailed how natural disasters and infrastructure damage significantly impacted global connectivity. In Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake caused immediate disruption to internet traffic across several networks in the region, with traffic dropping by 75 percent or more on some providers before slowly recovering.
In Egypt, a fire at Ramses Central Exchange disrupted telecommunications services for various providers, including Vodafone and Orange. Similarly, in Yemen, a targeted cyberattack on August 11 took down the Houthi-controlled YemenNet network, cutting traffic by half within minutes.
Infrastructure Damage Caused by Human Activities
Human activities also played a significant role in disrupting internet connectivity. In Angola and Haiti, infrastructure damage was primarily caused by public works projects. For instance, fiber cuts during public roadworks in Angola halted traffic for several hours, while in Haiti, a dual fiber break slashed Digicel’s traffic by 80 percent.
Even more unusual disruptions occurred, such as a stray bullet damaging a fiber cable near Dallas, Texas, causing a two-hour disruption for Spectrum customers. This incident underscored the fragility of terrestrial infrastructure and highlighted how unpredictable events can affect internet connectivity.
Space-Based Systems Not Immune
The report also addressed disruptions to space-based systems. Starlink, operated by SpaceX, suffered a global outage on July 24 due to a software failure. A SpaceX vice president explained that the outage was caused by “failure of key internal software services that operate the core network.”
Conclusion
Cloudflare’s report underscores the ongoing challenges faced by global internet infrastructure, from natural disasters and cyberattacks to government shutdowns and human activities. The company emphasized that its quarterly summary is not exhaustive but reflects confirmed and observable anomalies across its network. As these disruptions continue to impact users worldwide, the resilience of the internet remains a critical focus for both providers and policymakers.
