Large chunks of the internet went down due to a DNS issue

If you can't access online services like Sony's PlayStation Network and Steam, as well as websites like Airbnb, you're not the only one. Starting at approximately 11:20AM ET, Downdetector began logging a spike in outage reports across a variety of online services and websites. Outside of PSN and Steam, some of the more notable platforms people can't seem to connect to include LastPass, TikTok and UPS. Visiting the PlayStation Store and other affected websites, they come back with a DNS error.

Based on Twitter reports, the source of the problem is Akamai, one of the largest content delivery networks in the world. "We are aware of an emerging issue with the Edge DNS service," the company said in an update it posted on its website at 12:09PM ET. "We are actively investigating the issue." As of the writing of this article, Akamai has not said what's causing the issue.

DNS outages aren't uncommon, but it's not often they make large parts of the internet inaccessible. In recent memory, one of the most disruptive occurred in 2016 when a teen used the infamous Mirai malware to build out a botnet and carry out a series of distributed denial of service attacks against Dyn, one of the largest DNS providers in the US. The attacks made it so that people in the US and parts of Europe couldn't access websites like Amazon, GitHub, PayPal and Reddit for almost an entire day. The individual behind the Dyn cyberattack eventually pleaded guilty for what they did, but not before a variety of groups like Anonymous and New World Hackers claimed responsibility.

Update 12:54PM ET: Moments ago, Akamai said it implemented a fix for the issue it was having with its Edge DNS service. Many of the websites that were affected by the outage are starting to come back online, including PSN. Downdetector is also tracking fewer outage reports.