Websites taken offline worldwide over 'critical' PHP flaw found by AI, including 32 UK government services

Summary

Websites were taken down worldwide as a critical cyber-security update was issued over vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language widely used across the internet, BBC News reported on Wednesday 21 October, the vulnerabilities having been described as the most significant ever found by AI, and The Independent reported that multiple government websites and websites across Europe had been taken offline, The Scotsman that the Edinburgh council website was offline. On Thursday 22 October the Financial Times reported that websites were taken offline in a race to patch the flaw, and the Evening Standard and The Independent reported that Cloudflare's chief executive said there was a dramatic surge in attempts to exploit the issue once it was announced, while an expert told Sky News that the disruption could become 'more widespread'. A minister said there had been no breach of Budget security, the two outlets reported, and a minister confirmed that 32 UK Government services had been taken offline and four were experiencing partial disruption, according to Chronicle Live, No 10 saying that no large UK public-facing critical services had been affected but that some 'limited' Government websites had temporarily gone dark, according to the Evening Standard and The Independent.

Latest: A minister confirmed that 32 UK Government services had been taken offline and four were experiencing partial disruption, according to Chronicle Live, No 10 saying no large UK public-facing critical services had been affected, the Evening Standard and The Independent reported, after a minister said there had been no breach of Budget security and Cloudflare's chief executive said there was a dramatic surge in attempts to exploit the PHP flaw.

Written automatically by an AI from the articles' headlines and descriptions. It can contain errors: follow the links to read the articles.