PHP security flaws alarm Korean government, companies

The Korean government has issued a nationwide security alert to businesses and website operators over critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language widely used to build websites and web services, as the flaws spark widespread alarm across the globe amid concerns that they could rank among the most severe software vulnerabilities in history. Experts warned that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual business owners operating websites without dedicated cybersecurity personnel could be particularly vulnerable. They strongly recommended prompt security updates, noting that a vulnerability in one company's website could also affect other businesses whose websites are hosted on the same server. In a statement released Thursday, the Ministry of Science and ICT urged domestic companies and institutions operating PHP-based websites to immediately apply security updates. “The latest PHP vulnerabilities could affect a vast number of websites in Korea. An extremely urgent response is required as exploit code is already publicly available," Deputy Prime Minister and Min