Governments and Companies Take Websites Offline Worldwide After AI Uncovers Critical PHP Flaws

Summary

Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites overnight into Wednesday, October 21, as they raced to protect themselves from hacks after critical flaws in PHP, the programming language that underpins a large share of the internet, came to light. Cybersecurity firms used artificial intelligence to reveal the flaws, and reports say the vulnerabilities had lurked in software for years before being uncovered. Wiz, one of the firms that found the flaws, estimated that PHP code helps run about 70 per cent of the world's websites, including online stores, news outlets and government services. Newly discovered vulnerabilities have put millions of websites at risk, and PHP developers released patches on Wednesday and say updating systems is imperative.

Timeline

1. The Globe and Mail

   21 Oct 2026, 14:01 UTCSource ↗

   The Globe and Mail reports that the developers of the PHP programming language released new fixes to vulnerabilities that had quietly been lurking in the software for years.

2. NDTV

   21 Oct 2026, 16:07 UTCSource ↗

   NDTV reports that government websites went dark worldwide after major flaws were found in PHP code, and that the discovery came amid a surge in software security disclosures driven by powerful AI models.

3. Deutsche Welle

   21 Oct 2026, 16:56 UTCSource ↗

   Deutsche Welle reports that newly discovered PHP vulnerabilities have put millions of websites at risk, that government agencies are sounding alarms and taking sites down, and that PHP developers say key patches are available and updating systems is "imperative."

4. France 24

   21 Oct 2026, 17:15 UTCSource ↗

   France 24 reports that government and corporate websites were shut down across the world overnight into Wednesday after cybersecurity firms used AI to reveal critical flaws in PHP, and that PHP programmers released a patch on Wednesday.

5. RFI

   21 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTCSource ↗

   RFI reports that governments and companies around the world shut down websites as they raced to protect themselves from hacks after artificial intelligence uncovered critical flaws in PHP.

6. South China Morning Post

   21 Oct 2026, 22:10 UTCSource ↗

   The South China Morning Post reports that government agencies and companies shut down websites as they raced to protect themselves after AI uncovered critical PHP flaws, and that Wiz estimated PHP code helps run about 70 per cent of the world's websites.

7. The Japan Times

   22 Oct 2026, 00:17 UTCSource ↗

   The Japan Times reports that developers released urgent new fixes to vulnerabilities that had quietly lurked in their software for years until they were uncovered using AI.

8. Euronews

   22 Oct 2026, 08:47 UTCSource ↗

   Euronews reports that government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites on Wednesday after two critical flaws came to light involving PHP, a programming language that is the basis for a large share of the internet.