Australia’s cybersecurity website hit in flaw that could affect ’70 per cent of the internet’
Australian government websites, including those of the Australian Signals Directorate and the Taxation Office, were taken offline due to a critical security vulnerability in the PHP programming language. The flaw, which affects a large portion of the internet, was discovered by an OpenAI research team.
Why it matters
This event underscores the systemic risk posed by vulnerabilities in foundational programming languages used by the majority of the global web.
— 9:07am , first published 8:45am
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Share A A A A raft of Australian government websites were thrown into dysfunction and temporarily taken offline on Thursday as a precaution after security agencies issued a global alarm over a programming vulnerability affecting 70 per cent of the internet.
The nation’s peak intelligence and cybersecurity agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, was affected, while websites for other authorities including the Australian Taxation Office, the Health Department and the Australian Communications and Media Authority also appeared to be limited to varying degrees. These websites have since been restored.
Headlinne story · 7 newsrooms
Global Websites Go Dark After AI Uncovers Critical Programming Language Flaws
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