UPDATE - Websites go offline across European countries amid PHP security concerns

ADDS WEBSITE OUTAGES IN FRANCE, GERMANY; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Seyma Erkul Dayanc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Government agencies, media organizations, and hospital websites in Belgium, France, and Germany were taken offline on Wednesday amid concerns over critical security vulnerabilities in PHP, a widely used programming language, according to European media reports.

Belgian authorities said no attacks on the country’s websites had been recorded, while German officials warned that attackers could exploit the vulnerabilities within hours of security patches becoming available.

Belgium’s Foreign Ministry said it had temporarily taken its websites offline as a precaution following reports of cyberattacks exploiting the vulnerability.

“The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) has recorded no attacks on Belgian websites,” the ministry said in a post on US social media company X, adding that it would provide further updates.

Websites affected in Belgium included the Smartschool education platform, sites operated by media groups Roularta and DPG Media, and Antwerp hospital AZ Monica. Websites operated by the Flemish government were also taken offline as a precaution.

In Germany, Berlin’s Charite hospital and government agencies also took their websites offline amid concerns over the PHP security flaws, according to reports. Officials warned that attackers could exploit the vulnerabilities within hours of security patches being released.

Meanwhile, websites belonging to several French prefectures, including the Paris Police Prefecture, were inaccessible on Wednesday, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. The websites displayed maintenance notices, but it was not confirmed whether the outages were linked to the PHP vulnerabilities.

The vulnerabilities could allow attackers to execute code remotely on affected servers, potentially compromising vulnerable systems.

PHP is widely used to build and operate websites, including those running on WordPress. Security authorities have urged website operators to apply security updates promptly.

Şeyma Erkul Dayanç