Canada has temporarily taken some federal websites offline following the discovery of security vulnerabilities in PHP, software widely used to power websites.
AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon said the shutdowns were precautionary measures to protect government systems and Canadians’ information, following guidance from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.
The vulnerabilities prompted protective action by governments and organizations internationally. PHP developers have published fixes for supported, up-to-date software versions.
The disruption highlights how weaknesses in shared software can affect public services across borders. The precautionary shutdowns do not, by themselves, establish that Canadian government systems have been breached.
Want to know more? Check out the source code on BetaKit.