Millions of hacking attempts as companies, governments rush to patch PHP flaws

Global firms and governments faced an urgent task on Thursday to patch critical flaws in PHP, a foundational programming language that powers much of the internet. The race to secure systems intensified after a cloud firm disclosed millions of hacking attempts following the vulnerabilities’ discovery. In response, European and other governments took websites offline as a precautionary measure, leading to the shutdown of services ranging from banks and airlines to rail, tax, and government systems worldwide.

This emergency shutdown, visible from Tokyo to Helsinki, underscores the extensive reliance on PHP, a decades-old tool whose security remains largely a mystery to many. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella remarked, “I’ve not seen anything like this in a long, long time,” emphasizing the need for secure software maintenance as systems become increasingly complex.

The discovery of these flaws, which had been lurking for years, was facilitated by AI, prompting developers to release fixes immediately. However, the window for exploitation was brief, as companies scrambled to update their systems before malicious actors could take advantage. Cloudflare reported a surge in hacking attempts, escalating from thousands in the 10 hours leading up to the announcement to millions within the following hours.

The vulnerabilities, while longstanding, have been exacerbated by the advent of AI, making the need for swift and robust cybersecurity measures more urgent than ever.