TOKYO - Vulnerabilities have been found in the widely used PHP programming language, with patches to be released by the developer later Wednesday, according to Japan's government-affiliated Innovation Platform Agency.
According to a European research organization, PHP, which is mainly designed for servers, is used by 69.3 percent of websites worldwide whose server-side programming language is known.
Following the discovery of the vulnerabilities, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare temporarily suspended a website for its information disclosure system, which lists the contact information and service details of long-term care providers nationwide, as a precautionary measure.
The online store creation service BASE also underwent emergency maintenance, and Tokyo University of Foreign Studies also said that it will conduct an emergency inspection of the web servers it manages.
Sakura Internet Inc. said that it had suspended certain service functions.
Japan's National Cybersecurity Office urged users to take prompt action, including installing patches. "We are closely monitoring the situation," said a government official.
With the impact spreading overseas as well, the European Commission's cybersecurity division has advised organizations unable to promptly apply patches to consider isolating internet-facing applications from public networks.
