Cloudflare · Wall Street · United Kingdom · The Guardian Technology
Websites across world hit by millions of attempts to exploit PHP code flaw
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Websites around the world have been hit by millions of attempts to exploit a recently discovered vulnerability in their code, cybersecurity companies have said, as the US warned the flaw could allow attackers to take control of web servers, steal data and disrupt services.
Key facts
- In the UK, 32 government services had been taken offline, the cybersecurity minister, Liz Lloyd, told parliament
- The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) sent out 50,000 alerts to affected organisations, but said it had no reports of successful hacks because of the flaw
- The problem in the PHP programming language, which underpins about 70% of the world’s websites, emerged on Wednesday causing governments and companies to pull their websites off the internet
- The British Chambers of Commerce, which represents thousands of employers, said it was not yet causing firms any significant difficulties
Summary
The problem in the PHP programming language, which underpins about 70% of the world’s websites, emerged on Wednesday causing governments and companies to pull their websites off the internet before they could be attacked and so they could patch the fault. In the UK, 32 government services had been taken offline, the cybersecurity minister, Liz Lloyd, told parliament. The website for the BBC’s Traitors was one of those that was down on Thursday, while the government declined to name the affected sites, saying services were being reviewed, updated and coming back online.