Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued
The vulnerabilities with PHP, a programming language widely used across the internet, have been described as the most significant ever found by AI.
Critical cyber-security flaws discovered in the widely-used PHP programming language have prompted international governments and agencies to urge website owners to take action. The vulnerabilities, first uncovered by AI researchers at firms Calif and Wiz, could provide direct access to servers' file systems or databases. Upon discovering the flaws, multiple organizations, including the Finnish government, Edinburgh council, the BBC, and Wikipedia, have temporarily taken their websites offline.
The US National Security Agency and the White House have also advised organizations to take systems offline if they cannot apply the updates. Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged people to check if their publicly available websites ran on PHP. The vulnerabilities have gone undetected for over a decade and are estimated to affect roughly 70% of the internet, though the exact figure remains unverified.
PHP, which powers numerous websites and software, is a pervasive technology that can be difficult to detect and manage. Cyber-security experts warn that immediate remediation is crucial, as hackers could exploit the vulnerabilities to install malware and take down websites. Organizations are advised to continuously monitor for security updates from third-party software vendors and consider upgrading to the latest versions of PHP, which are not affected by the vulnerabilities.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
