Cheong Wa Dae Convenes Emergency Meeting over 'PHP Vulnerability' ... Urges 'Prompt Action as One Team'

Amid the discovery of a critical security vulnerability in PHP, a programming language widely used on websites worldwide, South Korea's National Security Office held an emergency cybersecurity meeting on October 22 with the public, private, and military sectors.

Presided over by Song Ki-ho, third deputy director of the National Security Office, the meeting was convened to coordinate and oversee response measures by relevant agencies against cyber threats exploiting the PHP security vulnerability.

The meeting was attended by director-general-level officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Intelligence Service—the lead agencies for cyber crisis response across the public, private, and military sectors. Attendees reviewed PHP usage and response status across the public, private, and defense sectors and discussed the vulnerabilities.

They also examined measures such as the swift application of security patches, temporary protective actions for websites unable to immediately install security updates, and inspections for signs of compromise.

The participating agencies agreed to share security threat intelligence and response statuses in real time while maintaining close coordination. The National Security Office plans to continuously monitor the progress of these actions and consider necessary additional steps as the situation evolves.

Song said, "The newly disclosed vulnerability allows attackers to take control of servers without authentication, and attack attempts have already been reported overseas, meaning how quickly we respond will determine the scale of the damage." He urged, "The public, private, and military sectors must work as 'one team' to swiftly complete these measures."

(Photo courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.