Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched unprecedented kamikaze drone strikes against Amazon and Microsoft data centers in Bahrain and the UAE, marking the first military attacks on commercial cloud infrastructure, framed as retaliation for U.S. and Israeli operations.
AWS facilities suffered structural damage, power outages and water leaks that forced regional cloud services offline, while Microsoft remained silent on security measures despite plans to expand in Saudi Arabia.
Hyperscale data centers are now high-value military targets, with traditional security measures ineffective against AI-guided drone swarms, posing a major risk to the $3 trillion global data center industry and regional AI ambitions (e.g., UAE’s OpenAI “Stargate” supercluster).
Experts warn attacks won’t be confined to the Middle East, as exposed cooling systems and power grids make data centers “soft targets” for disruption – jeopardizing essential services, public health and free speech online.
Unlike military-shielded facilities (e.g., Intel’s Israel plants), commercial data centers lack air defenses, forcing Washington and allies to rethink protection of critical digital infrastructure in conflict zones.
In a dramatic escalation of regional tensions, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched kamikaze drone strikes against Amazon and Microsoft data centers in the Middle East, marking the first known military attacks on commercial cloud infrastructure in history.
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