Cyber-Security Flaw Affects Millions of Websites, No Breaches Reported
A critical cyber-security flaw in the PHP programming language has been described as "unprecedented" by an expert, with millions of websites affected worldwide. The issue, which allows hackers to access sensitive information, has prompted a scramble to fix the problem.
Olly Whitehouse, chief technology officer for the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), warned that the vulnerability will be "universally felt". The PHP language is used to collect and present information on the web, making it a crucial component of many websites.
Organisations around the world are racing to patch the flaw, with some UK government services temporarily unavailable or partially unavailable while fixes are implemented. Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure platform, reported "millions" of hacking attempts related to the issue.
Cyber correspondent Joe Tidy emphasized the importance of addressing the problem, stating that anyone using PHP in their stack should "look at it, fix it" or take it offline if necessary. However, it remains to be seen whether organisations will take prompt action to mitigate the risk.
