Governments and businesses across the world temporarily shut down websites after security researchers identified a major vulnerability in PHP, a widely
used programming language, triggering an urgent effort to prevent hackers from exploiting the flaw. The disruption affected online services in countries including Finland, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Japan and Kenya on Wednesday and Thursday. Many websites were taken offline as a precaution while developers installed a security patch released by the nonprofit PHP Foundation on Wednesday morning. The vulnerability was identified by security researchers using advanced artificial intelligence models. Experts warned that it could allow attackers to take control of servers, steal private information and deface websites if the flaw was not fixed promptly. Although many outages lasted less than a day, the incident highlighted the global dependence on online services and the potential consequences of widespread cyberattacks. Government Websites And Public Services Affected In Finland, government websites were temporarily shut down, disrupting routine activities that depend on digital services. Kalle Pusa, a software developer involved in Helsinki city politics, said the disruption affected everyday tasks, including his attempt to arrange the collection of an old couch through a local government website. “It’s in the fabric of our society, a lot of these services,” Pusa said, adding that the disruption had left part of that fabric “a bit ripped apart”. The British government said 32 services were taken offline as a precaution. Websites belonging to German states and major cities, including Berlin and Munich, were also affected. Hannover Medical School reassured users that its hospital had not been hacked. In Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged businesses to take their websites offline while updates were installed. She also disclosed that access to her official website had been temporarily suspended. Several Dutch government websites, including the digital identity platform and a crime-reporting portal, were unavailable on Wednesday and Thursday. In France, services on the official tax website had not been fully restored by Thursday evening. Hackers Attempt To Exploit Vulnerability PHP remains a key component of popular platforms such as WordPress and Drupal. Despite indications that its use is declining, some estimates suggest that it underpins around 70 per cent of websites and web applications. Matthew Prince, chief executive of internet infrastructure and security company Cloudflare, said the company had observed thousands of attempts to exploit the vulnerability before it was publicly disclosed. According to Prince, those attempts increased to tens of thousands within 45 minutes of the announcement, hundreds of thousands within two hours and millions thereafter. Seth Kaufman, a software developer based in the New York area, warned that any machine running the vulnerable software could be at risk until the necessary updates were applied. The PHP Foundation released a patch on Wednesday, and security experts said installing it correctly should protect affected systems. However, the speed of the response remained critical as hackers sought to exploit unpatched servers. Small Businesses Face Disruption The incident also affected smaller businesses that lacked the extensive IT resources available to large institutions. Alistair Gleaves, who provides communications services to small businesses in Exeter, southwest England, said some businesses experienced outages lasting as long as seven hours. His own operations were affected when third-party payment services went offline. In Kenya, IT firm owner Anthony Wambua expressed concern that the government’s response was too slow to protect all vulnerable websites. Despite the disruption, the role of artificial intelligence in identifying the flaw offered a positive aspect of the incident. Gleaves said AI systems had helped uncover the vulnerability, demonstrating how the technology could also be used to identify security risks rather than simply create them.
