"Security Flaw in PHP"…Global Websites on High Alert Over Hacking

[Anchor]

A critical security vulnerability has been discovered in a programming language widely used across internet websites, prompting several European countries to preemptively block access to government websites. Artificial intelligence played a decisive role in uncovering this security vulnerability.

Here is correspondent Kim Hyunwoo from New York.

[Reporter]

Accessing the official French government website displays a message stating that it is temporarily unavailable.

Access to the Dutch government's internet site was also blocked, and major critical infrastructure sites in Finland and Denmark have similarly ground to a halt.

European countries blocked access to vulnerable websites as a precautionary measure after news broke that a severe security flaw had been found in PHP, a programming language used extensively across the internet.

[Paulo Amaral / Professor, Universidade Católica Portuguesa: If you don't install the update and the vulnerability remains on your website, attackers can crash the system.]

The Wall Street Journal in the U.S. reported that artificial intelligence played a decisive role in identifying this security flaw.

It is reported that AI discovered a critical error allowing hackers to access systems externally without separate login or authentication procedures to arbitrarily execute code or take control of the system.

This severe security flaw had gone undetected for over a decade, but it was uncovered using AI.

However, concerns are growing as reports indicate that relevant information was leaked before the security patch was released, leading some hackers to attempt attacks exploiting the vulnerability.

[Paulo Amaral / Professor, Universidade Católica Portuguesa: Now everyone knows that there is a vulnerability. Even hackers who perhaps didn't know before. They might rush to exploit it.]

The U.S. National Security Agency has also advised all agencies and companies using PHP to prepare updates to address the vulnerability.

(Video by Lee Hee-hoon | Video Editing by Kim Yoon-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.