Google Cloud: news, timeline and key numbers

Security researcher Paulos Yibelo has named a flaw he found in Linux KVM, the hypervisor used by most hyperscale clouds. A hypervisor is software that splits one server into isolated virtual machines. The report, dated October 19, said the stakes are high because virtualization depends on guests being unable to see what the host or other guests are doing. Both public and private clouds rely on that isolation.

On Tuesday, October 20, a failure hit one of Google Cloud's three availability zones in London, europe-west2-b. It began at 0608 UTC and disrupted a range of services. Availability zones are meant to protect customers from hardware or local failures. Even so, the loss of one zone affected banking, delivery and retail-related services. A source said the disruption in the London region, known as europe-west2, also hit Revolut. Websites and apps for banks, financial firms and public service providers in the UK were affected. The incident shows how many services rely on a single cloud region, meaning one cluster of Google's data centers.

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