Flaw in PHP computer language leads to shutdown of websites around world
Source: The Guardian ·
Precautionary takedowns come as experts say bad actors could exploit vulnerability in language used by 70% of sitesWebsites around the globe have gone dark after a serious vulnerability was found in a computer language used to build much of the world wide web.Dutch, German, Belgian, Finnish and French sites were among those governments took down temporarily as they scrambled to patch the…
From the source
Websites around the globe have gone dark after a serious vulnerability was found in a computer language used to build much of the world wide web. Dutch, German, Belgian, Finnish and French sites were among those governments took down temporarily as they scrambled to patch the critical weakness in PHP, a language used by almost 70% of websites. The vulnerability in the programming language, which became public on Tuesday, sparked warnings from national security agencies in Washington and London. It means millions of websites will need to be fixed. One internet infrastructure expert said Russian state actors or organised criminals could potentially exploit the flaw to carry out cyber-attacks. Wordpress, one of the most common website systems, uses PHP – as does Wikipedia, the messaging software Slack and – at least historically – much of Facebook. The Wikimedia Foundation said it had taken down several systems on Wednesday as a precautionary measure until they could be patched. The…