Government websites in Europe and elsewhere go dark as software flaw sparks security scramble


Government websites in Europe and elsewhere went offline on Wednesday after the disclosure of critical vulnerabilities in a widely used programming language sent website operators scrambling to protect their systems.

Developers of the PHP programming language said Tuesday they had identified two critical vulnerabilities and urged users to update their sites as soon as a fix was released. They said around 1345 GMT on Wednesday that a new version fixing the vulnerabilities was live.

But with reports that hackers were exploiting the flaws to break into websites, government agencies in the Netherlands and Finland were among those that took sites offline ahead of the fix as a precaution.

Read more…
Source:  CNBC News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Triple Meltdown: How So Many Researchers Found A 20-Year-Old Chip Flaw At The Same Time.

    January 7, 2018

    On a cold Sunday early last month in the small Austrian city of Graz, three young researchers sat down in front of the computers in their homes and tried to break their most fundamental security protections. Two days earlier, in their lab at Graz’s University of Technology, Moritz Lipp, Daniel Gruss, and Michael Schwarz had determined to ...

  • Rush to fix ‘serious’ computer chip flaws

    January 4, 2018

    Tech firms are working to fix two bugs that could allow hackers to steal personal data from computer systems. Google researchers said one of the “serious security flaws”, dubbed “Spectre”, was found in chips made by Intel, AMD and ARM. The other, known as “Meltdown” affects Intel-made chips alone. The industry has been aware of the problem for ...

  • Satori IoT botnet malware code given away for Christmas

    January 2, 2018

    A hacker has released the working code for a Huawei router exploit used by the Satori botnet over the holiday season as a freebie for cyberattackers seeking to target Huawei devices or bolster botnets. According to NewSky Security principal researcher Ankit Anubhav, the exploit’s code was released on Pastebin over the holiday season. Read more… Source: ZDNet  

  • Kernel-memory-leaking Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign

    January 2, 2018

    A fundamental design flaw in Intel’s processor chips has forced a significant redesign of the Linux and Windows kernels to defang the chip-level security bug. Programmers are scrambling to overhaul the open-source Linux kernel’s virtual memory system. Meanwhile, Microsoft is expected to publicly introduce the necessary changes to its Windows operating system in an upcoming Patch ...

  • MacOS LPE Exploit Gives Attackers Root Access

    January 2, 2018

    A researcher that goes by the handle “Siguza” released details of a local privilege escalation attack against macOS that dates back to 2002. A successful attack could give adversaries complete root access to targeted systems. Siguza released details of the attack on Dec. 31 via Twitter, wishing followers a “Happy New Year” and linked to a ...

  • Huawei Router Vulnerability Used to Spread Mirai Variant

    December 22, 2017

    Researchers have identified a vulnerability in a Huawei home router model that is being exploited by an adversary to spread a variant of the Mirai malware called Okiku, also known as Satori. Researchers at Check Point published a report Thursday, and said the flaw is in Huawei’s router model HG532. It said it is tracking hundreds ...