Explainer
Why did so many European websites go dark at once?
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Early Wednesday, details of two flaws leaked on a hacker forum, and governments and hospitals went dark. In Rotterdam, the port and the RET transport operator were offline. In Antwerp, hospital websites were too.
Rotterdam and Antwerp
Each flaw was rated 9.2 out of ten. They let criminals run their own code on a server from a distance, which could hand over full control of a website or access to customer data.
9.2
There was no update to install yet, and the flaw appeared to have been exploited for hours before the fix arrived in the afternoon. The PHP Foundation was blunt: There are no complete mitigations, updating is the only safe choice.
“There are no complete mitigations, updating is the only safe choice.”
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The story
PHP2Shell flaws prompt website shutdowns worldwide as attackers tried exploits days earlierRead the article
Based on reports by
- ZDNetPHP2Shell: Haven't patched yet? Take these steps now to mitigate - ZDNET
- SAPOThe earthquake in the foundations of the Web has turned into practice: Hackers on the hunt force critical sites to shut down
- The IndependentWhat you need to do as the world panics about AI cyber attacks
- NRCExperts already speak of Black October with all these hacks: AI reveals that the internet is in need of a thorough renovation
- The VergeOne man basically saved the internet from the PHPocalypse.
- ANSA.itCriminals tried to exploit the PHP web flaw days before the news