A critical security problem in PHP programming has forced public institutions and businesses in some countries in the world to temporarily shut down their websites to protect systems from possible cyber attacks.
Weakness affects a technology that is widely used for building and functioning web sites.
According to the cyber security company Clouudflare, about 70% of the websites use PHP, which also supports platforms known as WordPress and Magento.
Among the countries that have taken preventive measures are France, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Chekhia.
In the United Kingdom, several institutions, including the Office for Business Responsibilities and local councils of Oxfordshire and Hillingdon, have announced the temporary closure of their pages.
Some of them have already returned to function.
PHP developers have published updates to correct two critical weaknesses and have called on users to install them as soon as possible.
Cyber security experts warn that sites that do not update their systems may be exposed to attacks.
For those who cannot immediately install security updates, the review of the provisional closure is recommended.
According to the executive director of Cloudflare, Matthew PRlNCE, since the discovery of the problem, millions of attempts have been recorded to exploit this weakness.
Amazon Web Services has also warned that it is being widely exploited by attackers.
Al has also been used in revealing weakness.
OpenAI announced that over the past two months, he has worked with a group of researchers to identify and correct the problem, supporting developers in preparing solutions.
British Minister Douglas Alexander stated that the government was aware of the weakness before it became public.
He explained that the problem was not only related to government systems, but to a basic technology used in a large part of the internet.
South Korea, meanwhile, has increased the level of cyber security readiness in the private sector and has called an emergency meeting to address the situation.
China has also urged organisations to strengthen systems monitoring, change passwords, and install safer software versions.
Experts stress that the biggest risk is linked to old internet sites, which have not been updated.
According to them, although ordinary users have no reason to be alarmed only because of this problem, institutions and businesses that manage websites should take immediate measures to protect their systems. /Telegraphy/