How one computer file accidentally took down 20% of the internet yesterday – in plain English

Cloudflare's configuration error in a single computer file caused a widespread outage that took down nearly 20% of the internet yesterday, highlighting the fragility of the modern web's infrastructure. This incident, which was sparked by a mistake in a core configuration file, led to a significant portion of the internet becoming unreachable for several hours. For website owners, this outage underscores the critical importance of having robust backup systems and diversifying their infrastructure providers to minimize the risk of such disruptions. The fact that a single configuration error at Cloudflare could have such far-reaching consequences serves as a stark reminder of the potential vulnerabilities that exist in the modern web's architecture. Website owners who rely heavily on Cloudflare or other core infrastructure providers should be particularly concerned about the potential impact of similar outages on their online presence and revenue. To mitigate such risks, website owners can take several proactive steps, including monitoring their AI bot traffic to quickly detect any anomalies, regularly updating their llms.txt files to ensure they are aligned with the latest security protocols, and diversifying their content delivery networks (CDNs) to reduce dependence on any single provider. By taking these measures, website owners can help protect their online assets and minimize the potential impact of future outages.