Race to update services' computer systems after cyber-security flaw found

Organisations and businesses around the world are scrambling to update their computer systems after the developers of the PHP programming language revealed 'critical vulnerabilities' in its code.

Websites across the globe were taken offline on Wednesday and Thursday as a precaution. Cyber-security researchers warned the 'severe' flaws, now dubbed 'php2shell', could expose millions of sites to hacking if left unpatched — with PHP powering around 70 per cent of the world's websites, including Wikipedia, WordPress and online shops.

In the UK, Downing Street said 32 government services were unavailable and four partially unavailable, attributing the disruption to precautionary measures taken to protect systems. The National Cyber Security Centre said there were 'no indications' of successful breaches by hackers so far, but its chief technology officer Olly Whitehouse warned the impact would be 'universally felt'.

Internet infrastructure firm Cloudflare reported 'thousands' of attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities across its network, rising to tens of thousands within 45 minutes of the announcement. Amazon also said hackers had attempted to exploit the flaws, though its websites were operating normally.

The flaws were unearthed by researchers at Wiz and another firm, who found they were inherent in PHP itself. The PHP Foundation has urged operators to apply security fixes immediately.