The discovery of serious security vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language, which powers millions of websites around the world, has triggered an international state of alert after artificial intelligence tools managed to expose coding flaws that had remained hidden for more than a decade.
PHP runs many widely used platforms, including Wikipedia, WordPress and various online stores. The newly discovered vulnerabilities could allow hackers to take control of affected servers and steal sensitive data without needing to verify their identity.
Cybersecurity authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia moved quickly to issue urgent warnings, calling on institutions to install security updates immediately or temporarily suspend their websites if the vulnerabilities could not be patched.
In this context, the Wikimedia Foundation suspended a number of its systems as a precaution, while government and health institutions in Scotland took similar measures.
OpenAI confirmed that this discovery is considered one of the most significant security issues in recent years, noting that artificial intelligence is capable of uncovering vulnerabilities at an unprecedented speed, but that it could also be used to develop more sophisticated cyberattacks.
Experts warned of a possible rise in hacking attempts in the coming weeks, stressing the need to update systems and monitor any suspicious activity, while cautioning users about the risks of phishing emails.
