What is a 'latent bug' that disrupted the internet?
A hidden glitch in Cloudflare's network briefly broke the internet on November 18, taking down big names like ChatGPT, X, Canva, and others.
The bug was sneaky—it only showed up under certain conditions—but Cloudflare spotted it fast and fixed things within two hours.
Why did this happen?
Cloudflare handles security and traffic for about one in five websites worldwide.
During a routine update to its bot-blocking system, an unexpected bug triggered failures across their global network.
While it caused plenty of headaches, Cloudflare reassured everyone that hackers weren't involved.
Why does it matter to you?
This outage is a reminder of how much we all depend on just a few companies to keep our favorite apps running.
It shows why tech needs stronger safeguards—so next time you're chatting or scrolling, you don't suddenly get cut off.