Permanent Data Loss from Iranian Drone Strikes on AWS in Middle East

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Permanent Data Loss from Iranian Drone Strikes on AWS in Middle East

First seen 21 Sep 2026, 07:27 UTC • •74.0

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ThreatCluster •September 21, 2026 at 08:26 UTC

•AWS data centers in Bahrain and UAE suffered permanent data loss due to Iranian drone strikes.
•Most customers had migrated their data before the attacks, allowing some recovery.
•AWS has suspended billing and issued $150 million in credits to affected customers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported that multiple Iranian drone strikes have caused permanent data loss in its cloud infrastructure located in Bahrain and the UAE. The strikes, which began in March 2026, targeted AWS data centers in retaliation for US and Israeli military actions against Iran. AWS confirmed that it could not restore access to resources in Bahrain's three Availability Zones and one in the UAE, mec1-az2. Most customers had migrated their workloads to other regions before the attacks escalated, allowing them to recover some operations. AWS has suspended billing operations in both countries since the attacks began. The company has also issued credits totaling $150 million to affected customers. The ongoing conflict has raised concerns about the vulnerability of data centers in war zones, as they are increasingly targeted in military operations.

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Timeline

2026-03-01

First drone strike on AWS Bahrain data center

Iranian drone strikes began targeting AWS facilities in Bahrain, leading to initial damage.

2026-04-01

Second drone strike impacts Bahrain Availability Zones

A second wave of strikes rendered all three Availability Zones in Bahrain inaccessible.

2026-09-16

AWS confirms permanent data loss

AWS announced it could not restore access to resources in Bahrain and one UAE Availability Zone due to extensive damage.

2026-09-20

AWS issues $150 million in credits

AWS has provided $150 million in credits to customers affected by the drone strikes in the Middle East.

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Threat Graph

8 entities, 7 inferred relationships (STIX 2.1).

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Technique (4)

Data Breach
Phishing
Zero-day Exploit
T1566 - Phishing

Organization (2)

De Novo
AWS

Affected Platform (1)

SharePoint

Threat Actor (1)

Conti

Relationships

Conti uses Data Breach
Conti uses Phishing
Conti uses Zero-day Exploit
Conti uses T1566 - Phishing
Conti targets De Novo
Conti targets AWS
Conti related to SharePoint

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