--- title: "Widespread disruption as cyber-security flaw hits PHP web development language" url: https://noti.group/widespread-disruption-as-cyber-security-flaw-hits-php-web-development/ language: en publisher: "Noti Group" section: "Technology" published: 2026-10-22T17:12:51.000Z updated: 2026-10-22T22:45:11.975Z id: 6c41f25f-ae06-40d4-9ac1-0ff18dbfbc45 source: "BBC News Technology https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9j34zgmkxx1o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss" attribution: "Link to https://noti.group/widespread-disruption-as-cyber-security-flaw-hits-php-web-development/ and name Noti Group when you quote or summarize this story." --- # Widespread disruption as cyber-security flaw hits PHP web development language A major cyber-security flaw in a widely-used programming language called PHP has led to widespread concerns about potential hacks on millions of websites that rely on it. Organisations around the world have been racing to update their computer systems following a major cyber-security flaw in a widely-used programming language. The vulnerabilities were discovered in PHP, a back-end language that has been used in web development for decades. This has led to widespread concerns about potential hacks on millions of websites that rely on it. The discovery was made by the developers of PHP themselves, who described the flaws as "critical. UK government services have not been immune from the issue, with some sites taken offline as a precautionary measure. According to tech minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra, 32 government services are currently unavailable while four others are partially unavailable. The government has attributed this disruption to precautionary measures taken to protect systems while security updates and mitigations are applied. The exact nature of the affected services has not been specified by the government, but it did confirm that no large public-facing critical services have been impacted. While there have been no reported successful attacks so far, experts warn that any impact may take time - potentially even months - to become fully apparent. Work is ongoing across government and with international partners to identify and fix potential exposures to systems. Work is ongoing to verify that affected organizations are taking action to address the vulnerability. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is closely monitoring the situation and has received positive confirmation that advice sent to those impacted has been received and acted upon. Olly Whitehouse, chief technology officer of the NCSC, described the event as unprecedented" and said it will have a universal impact. He added that there are currently no indications of successful breaches by hackers. Cyber-security experts are warning that organizations need to prioritize updating their computer systems to prevent further disruptions. One expert noted that hacking has been around for many years, but the government's own infrastructure is not immune to vulnerabilities. The NCSC and other authorities are working closely with affected organizations to ensure they have the necessary resources to update their systems and mitigate any potential risks. The extent of the problem is becoming increasingly clear as technicians struggle to update systems affected by the critical PHP vulnerabilities. MOT testing centers are among those finding it difficult to cope, with some forced to conduct tests and issue certificates in paper form due to the inability to print digital documents. This has led to delays for customers, who are being asked to wait while the necessary updates are made. The widespread use of PHP is a major factor in the severity of the problem, as it powers 70% of the world's websites according to estimates from cyber-security firm Wiz. PHP was first developed in the early 1990s and has since become a staple of web development. The widespread nature of the PHP flaw is becoming increasingly evident, with numerous large organizations reporting a surge in attempts to breach their systems. Cloudflare's Matthew Prince revealed that his company saw thousands of attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities across its network before the issue was publicly announced. This number skyrocketed in the hours following the announcement, with tens of thousands of attempts detected within 45 minutes and hundreds of thousands within two hours. The rate at which hackers are attempting to exploit the flaw is staggering, according to Prince's estimates, who stated that millions of attempts have been made so far. Amazon has also confirmed that it saw hackers trying to take advantage of the PHP vulnerabilities on its systems but noted that its websites were operating normally despite these attempts. Despite the temporary disruptions experienced by some organizations, many sites have since returned to normal operations, including those of a Dutch cyber-security agency and Finland's government. The window for responding to the cyber-security flaw has narrowed significantly, according to Matt Hull, a top executive at NCC Group. A few years ago, attackers may have taken weeks or even months to exploit a vulnerability, but now they can do so in just days or hours. As a result of this accelerated timeline, developers and engineers are facing an enormous challenge in updating computer systems to prevent the flaw from being exploited. Hull emphasized the importance of self-care for security professionals working on the issue, noting that several days into the incident, many may already be experiencing burnout due to the intense workload. --- Source: [BBC News Technology](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9j34zgmkxx1o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) Published by Noti Group: https://noti.group/widespread-disruption-as-cyber-security-flaw-hits-php-web-development/