BBC News Video posted an update
How did AI expose a decade-old cybersecurity flaw in PHP? | BBC News
Why it mattersThe BBC's cyber correspondent discusses how AI was used to uncover long-undetected flaws in PHP, an open-source technology underpinning much of the internet, and covers affected companies and attempts by hackers to exploit the issue.
Discuss: How does AI-assisted discovery of PHP flaws shape the tension between exposing vulnerabilities and preventing hackers from exploiting them?
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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BBC News Video
BBC News Video Update What changedBBC Newsround reports that affected websites included parts of Wikipedia, Amazon, the BBC and public services. Some UK council and NHS Scotland pages were taken offline temporarily while organisations dealt with the vulnerabilities; the BBC says some services returned within hours.
The UK National Cyber Security Centre advises organisations using PHP to apply the fixes. If updates or temporary protections cannot be put in place quickly, it recommends taking affected websites offline temporarily.
The BBC says the NCSC had seen no signs of successful hacks at the time of its report. That is a useful distinction: precautionary shutdowns are not evidence that attackers got in. For operators, the immediate job is to follow the NCSC guidance, not to wait for a dramatic error page.
Sources and evidence
- PHP issue: Websites temporarily down after AI spotted security flaw - BBC: BBC Newsround reports that parts of websites including Wikipedia, Amazon and public services were affected, some services were temporarily taken offline, and the NCSC advised applying fixes or temporarily taking sites down if protections could not be applied quickly. It reported no signs of successful hacks at that time.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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