{
  "id": 15884571,
  "title": "Cyber chiefs tell websites to make critical safety update or go offline",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/cyber-chiefs-tell-websites-to-make-critical-safety-update-or-go",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-21T12:14:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BBC Technology",
    "slug": "bbc-technology",
    "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmly0lg3w5x2o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Organisations that rely on PHP programming language are being urged to install critical software updates today or consider taking their websites offline. Two significant vulnerabilities in PHP, widely used across the internet, have been identified by the PHP Foundation. The update addressing these vulnerabilities is set to be released on Wednesday afternoon. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and its counterparts in the EU and Australia have called upon those using PHP to apply the fixes as soon as they become available. The Netherlands' cyber-security agency has taken its own website offline due to the vulnerabilities found. If immediate remediation is not possible, organisations should consider taking the system offline until the issue can be fully mitigated, according to the NCSC. The EU's cyber-security officials have also warned of the risk, stating that the vulnerabilities indicate the potential for unauthenticated remote code execution. Such a cyber-attack could allow hackers to install malware and take down websites. Cybersecurity expert Dane Knecht from Cloudflare has reported early attacks emerging and is updating mitigations as new vectors show up. The NCSC advises organisations to continuously monitor for security updates from third-party software vendors, including appliances and services that bundle PHP. It remains unclear which versions of PHP are affected, but CERT-EU suggests it could impact all versions dating back to PHP 5 launched in 2004. PHP is used for web development, implementing what users see when visiting websites. Although not all websites use it, it powers a significant portion of the internet. Cyber chiefs warn that malicious actors are evolving their tactics.",
  "summary": "Two critical vulnerabilities have been identified with PHP, a programming language which is widely used across the internet.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Hacker News",
        "title": "Dutch National Cyber Security Center is Offline because it uses PHP",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/dutch-national-cyber-security-center-is-offline-because-it-uses-php",
        "published": "2026-10-21T12:31:28.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}