Alert to Brits as Google Cloud outage affects Bank of Scotland, Royal Mail and HSBC

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Alert to Brits as Google Cloud outage affects Bank of Scotland, Royal Mail and HSBC

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scie ... e-37791222

A major Google Cloud outage has affected customers of Lloyds, HSBC, Halifax, Revolut, Royal Mail and DPD, as well as court video hearings across England and Wales

A warning has been issued to Brits reliant on Google Cloud after a major outage today that has disrupted banks, estate agents, Royal Mail, Bank of Scotland and even the courts. Google is grappling with problems affecting numerous services.

The tech giant confirmed the issue - which started on Monday evening - is triggering errors and sporadic network failures across its Cloud platform. "Our engineering team continues to investigate the issue," Google said. "We apologise to all who are affected by the disruption."

The Bank of Scotland app has been down. A Bank of Scotland spokesperson said today: "We're aware some customers are having issues with our app and online. We're sorry about this and are working hard to fix it."

Remote court proceedings have been disrupted, sparking fears many will be postponed or cancelled entirely, reports Wales Online. The outage has affected companies including digital bank Revolut, courier firm DPD and Royal Mail. Revolut's online banking customers have also experienced service disruption following the outage.

The fintech company, which serves millions of UK customers, has flagged up problems affecting functions such as card payments, transfers, cash withdrawals and account logins. Now a major private network provider serving internet users worldwide has issued its own warning.

Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, said: "When a cloud outage leaves people unable to make payments or access everyday services, it exposes how much we depend on infrastructure we never see. As Google is one of the world's biggest technology companies, disruption to its cloud services can also affect businesses whose customers may have no idea they depend on Google at all.

"For everyday Google users, this dependence can mean several services they rely on suddenly being unavailable at the same time. Someone unable to pay through one banking app may find their alternative is affected too. Keeping a second payment option can help, although using a different bank does not guarantee it relies on different technology.

"Banks, retailers and delivery companies may look like separate businesses, but behind the scenes many rely on the same handful of technology providers. A problem at one supplier can quickly spread beyond its own customers.

"For businesses, the lesson is not that the cloud is unreliable, but that using a major provider does not remove the responsibility to prepare for disruption. Critical services need tested arrangements to switch to another system when something goes wrong.

"A backup is only useful if it can operate independently of whatever has failed. Businesses need to check whether their main service and their fallback rely on the same underlying systems, and test how quickly they can switch between them. Having copies of your data does not, on its own, mean customers can carry on making payments or accessing their accounts."

More than 1,500 customers flagged up difficulties with Revolut during Tuesday morning, based on reports to the Downdetector platform. A spokesperson said: "We are currently experiencing a service disruption affecting multiple services. We can confirm that all our customers' money and data are safe.

"We've been working to fix the issue since it was identified this morning and apologise to anyone affected and for any inconvenience caused." Hundreds using Lloyds Bank and HSBC also logged complaints on Downdetector, alongside services including Royal Mail, DPD and Rightmove.

Budgeting application Emma informed users it had gone offline due to the Google Cloud disruption. The firm shared on X: "Emma is currently down due to a Google Cloud outage affecting services in London since 7am. This is a technical outage, not a security issue.

"We're monitoring closely and will update here as soon as the app is back. Sorry for the disruption."

Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, acknowledged on X that it was "aware some customers are having issues with our app and online". The bank added: "We're sorry about this and are working hard to fix it."