Fiber cut on Zayo network causes major outage for X, Zoom and Google.

Millions of internet users lost access to major services on Monday morning due to a critical fiber cut in North America.

The disruption began at 8:35 AM Eastern Time, causing widespread crashes for popular platforms like X, Zoom, Google, and Microsoft.

Cloudflare, a key provider of web security and routing for millions of sites, confirmed it is investigating the specific cause.

The company stated that the primary issue stems from a fiber cut affecting Zayo, a network provider in Eastern North America.

A Cloudflare spokesperson emphasized that the outage is not global and is unrelated to their other services operating worldwide.

They explained that sites relying exclusively on Zayo's network routes may become unreachable during this specific incident.

However, the company expects the situation to resolve quickly as evidence shows Zayo's network is already recovering.

Cloudflare reported that traffic engineering efforts have successfully mitigated most congestion and packet drops across the system.

Services are now largely stable, though minor residual impacts remain for some North American origins as crews clear remaining load.

A fiber cut occurs when a physical break in a cable damages the infrastructure carrying internet traffic, disrupting data flow.

Engineers must locate the break, dispatch repair crews, and splice the cable back together to restore normal service.

While backup connections often reroute traffic, major cuts to critical routes can still trigger widespread outages as seen today.

Cloudflare also identified a separate technical issue preventing some users from deploying Managed Rules for website security protections.

Monitoring sites like Downdetector show users reporting problems with Cloudflare's dashboard and experiencing API authorization failures.

Some users encountered a 404 Error message when attempting to log in to various services during the outage.

Cybersecurity experts have issued urgent warnings for users to avoid fake backup links or mirror pages appearing during the disruption.

Web3 Antivirus warned that users might be trapped by alternative access points or status updates that lead to malicious sites.

These fake pages can mimic helpful resources but may actually host phishing forms, wallet drainers, or malicious downloads.

The company urges caution while repair crews work to fully clear the network load and restore full functionality.