What Is PHP? Why Are Government and Business Websites Going Offline?

A critical security flaw in the programming language underpinning much of the web has prompted a global rush to patch vulnerable systems.

What Is PHP? Why Are Government and Business Websites Going Offline?

TL;DR

  • Major security flaws discovered in PHP software.
  • PHP is used by an estimated 70% of all websites and web applications.
  • Governments and companies are patching or taking down websites.
  • OpenAI identified the bugs, calling it a highly impactful security issue.
  • No confirmed successful attacks using the PHP flaws have been reported, but breaches are expected.
  • PHP is an open-source programming language used for building web applications, including platforms like WordPress and Drupal.