Two Global Outages Reveal a Structural Vulnerability

In recent years, two significant events disrupted many digital services across Asia, highlighting a critical weakness in the region’s digital infrastructure. On November 18 and December 5, 2025, Cloudflare, a major internet services provider, experienced outages. Although these outages were brief, they had a big impact on various online services, from trading platforms to enterprise systems.

What Happened During the Outages

The first outage on November 18 was due to a mistake in Cloudflare’s system that manages automated web traffic. This error caused many legitimate online requests to be mistakenly blocked or slowed. The second outage on December 5 involved an update to Cloudflare’s web application firewall, which went wrong and caused slow responses and errors on many websites.

Even though Cloudflare quickly fixed the issues in about an hour, the outages revealed a significant problem: Asia’s digital economy is growing quickly, but it depends heavily on a few global service providers like Cloudflare.

A Broader Pattern of Disruption

These Cloudflare outages followed earlier disruptions at other major service providers, like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and CrowdStrike. In October 2025, AWS faced a major outage that affected many digital services worldwide, from financial apps to online games. CrowdStrike’s faulty update caused problems for many systems, specifically in Asia, disrupting airports, retail stores, and hospitals.

These incidents showed that the digital systems supporting Asia’s economy are closely connected. When one provider experiences problems, it can quickly affect many services across the region.

Why Asia Felt the Impact More

Although the outages impacted many global users, Asia felt the effects more intensely. This was partly because of time zone differences, but the deeper issue is that many Asian businesses depend on external providers for their digital services. In places like India, many financial platforms experienced login issues during the outages because they rely on Cloudflare for security and performance.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia also faced delays as their online systems slowed down. In East Asia, tools for collaboration and enterprise work saw slow responses, which hampered businesses.

The Centralization Problem

One key reason for the widespread disruption is the centralization of internet services. Over the last decade, many companies have become reliant on a small number of providers, such as Cloudflare. While this makes operations simple, it also creates risks. If one provider experiences a failure, many businesses get affected quickly.

This situation raises an important question: Does Asia have too many of its digital operations relying on too few global providers?

The answer appears to be yes.

Asia’s Digital Economy: Rapid Growth, Slow Infrastructure

Asia’s digital economy is growing fast. More services in payments, entertainment, and logistics are moving online. But the foundational infrastructure hasn’t kept pace.

Several reasons contribute to this risk:

1. Fast-Scaling Fintech: Asian markets are thriving with fintech solutions that require continuous access. When a core service fails, the fintech users are hit first.
2. Heavy Dependence on Global Networks for AI: Startups using AI depend on global networks for speed and efficiency. Interruptions can lead to poor performance.
3. Digital Public Infrastructure: Countries like India and Singapore have advanced digital systems but still rely on external networks, which can lead to vulnerabilities.
4. Limited Regulation: Unlike telecom providers, cloud service providers are not strictly regulated, allowing for potential service reliability issues.

What This Means for Startups and Investors

For startups, these outages highlight the risks of relying on a single provider for critical services. While it’s convenient to use global platforms like Cloudflare due to their simplicity, it can quickly become a liability as companies grow. Investors now need to consider whether startups have robust plans in place to handle potential disruptions.

Opportunities in Infrastructure

The outages also reveal gaps in regional infrastructure. Asia lacks strong local alternatives for important services, presenting a chance for founders to develop new infrastructure companies.

Government Responses and Future Steps

Asian governments are beginning to address these vulnerabilities, but the efforts are inconsistent. Countries like India are encouraging local cloud providers, while Singapore is working towards strict data-handling regulations.

However, there’s still much to be done to ensure that Asia’s digital future is more resilient:

• Diversify Infrastructure: Companies need to reduce dependence on any single provider.
• Strengthen Regional Alternatives: Local cloud providers should be supported to compete effectively with global players.
• Implement Regulation: Governments should introduce minimum standards for reliability among cloud providers.
• Coordinate Regionally: A collaborative approach among Asian countries to create a unified digital resilience strategy could significantly improve stability.

Conclusion: Learning from Outages

The outages at Cloudflare, AWS, and CrowdStrike illustrate a serious problem in Asia’s digital infrastructure. While these issues were resolved quickly, they serve as a long-term reminder that heavy reliance on global service providers can lead to vulnerabilities. For Asia to continue its rapid digital growth, it must build a stronger, more resilient digital foundation, fostering collaboration and investment in local infrastructure.