I'm a CTO who was awake for 48 hours because of the PHP crisis. October feels like the month of hell for tech.
A CTO shares his experience working through a 48-hour shift to patch a critical vulnerability in the PHP programming language. He warns that the increasing use of AI to exploit security gaps is making the tech landscape more volatile.
Why it matters
It underscores the fragility of global web infrastructure and the growing security challenges posed by AI-driven cyber threats.
Nick Woodhead had to scramble in response to a security flaw that threatened the majority of the world's websites. Courtesy of Nick Woodhead Nick Woodhead said he went 48 hours without sleep while helping patch a major website vulnerability. The CTO said that with security problems piling up, October feels like "the month of hell" for tech. Because AI makes it easier to find and exploit security gaps, Woodhead expects more disruption. This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Nick Woodhead, founder of the AI company GPTree and chief technology officer at Rothco and Compubox. He spoke with Business Insider on Thursday to share how he's responded to vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language that could affect the majority of the world's websites. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity. It's always a nightmare when these things happen. Since Tuesday evening, I haven't slept.
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