As missiles hit AWS, just how safe are photos and videos stored on "the cloud"?

Explosion and fire in UAEForeign workers look at a tall plume of black smoke ascends following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. Iran's strikes on Gulf neighbours since February 28, following the US-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travellers who thought they were headed to one of the region's safest holiday destinations. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images).

AWS, Amazon's cloud computing business that powers around at third of the internet, announced last week that three of its facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were knocked out by drone strikes.The strikes, a result of the US/Israel-led action against Iran, were initially described as the facilities being hit by 'objects' before a little more clarity emerged.

So what got hit, and why worry?