Critical PHP vulnerabilities have prompted website shutdowns across Europe, a US-led response and protective measures from Cloudflare amid reports of early attacks.
Critical PHP vulnerabilities have prompted website shutdowns across Europe, a US-led response and protective measures from Cloudflare amid reports of early attacks.
FILE PHOTO: Governments across Europe have taken websites offline as a precaution following warnings about critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a widely used programming language. | Photo Credit: Dado Ruvic
Governments in Europe are taking websites offline in response to warnings about critical security vulnerabilities in a programming language that underpins the internet.
Finland’s government said it was taking offline all public-facing internet services as a precautionary measure. Dutch national and local government websites were also taken down.
The programming language, called PHP, contains two vulnerabilities that have not yet been fixed, which could potentially expose organizations using it in websites and software platforms to cyberattacks.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said in an alert Wednesday that organizations should work to identify any systems running PHP, check them for malicious activity, and consider taking them offline until the vulnerabilities can be mitigated.
US coordinates response as PHP developers release security updates
The developers responsible for maintaining PHP said Wednesday they released software updates to patch the vulnerabilities, urging users to adopt those changes immediately. The US government is coordinating with federal agencies and technology companies to adopt the security fix, according to a White House official.
PHP is one of the web’s most widely deployed technologies, underpinning millions of websites. Any vulnerability could therefore cascade through the internet’s software supply chain, potentially exposing online services to data theft, malware and breaches. Taking sites offline means attackers can’t reach and exploit the flaw while it’s being fixed.
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Averytin News Financial update.