32 UK government websites go offline as a precaution, Guardian reports
The Guardian reports that discovery of a flaw in PHP, a programming language used by millions of websites worldwide, prompted the precautionary shutdown.
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The Guardian reports that discovery of a flaw in PHP, a programming language used by millions of websites worldwide, prompted the precautionary shutdown.
Thirty-two UK government websites were taken offline as a precaution after a security vulnerability was discovered in PHP, the Guardian reported on 22 October. In a ministerial account that day, technology minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra reported 32 unavailable government services and four partially unavailable services, largely because of precautionary security work.
PHP is a programming language that runs on web servers to help generate website pages. It is used by millions of websites worldwide. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre sent 50,000 alerts to affected organisations.
Lloyd gave the following breakdown in the House of Lords on 22 October. She said the disruption largely resulted from measures to protect systems while security updates and other safeguards were applied.
| Service status | Number of services |
|---|---|
| Unavailable | 32 |
| Partially unavailable | 4 |
Lloyd said ministers were not aware of any confirmed breaches of central government systems resulting from the vulnerabilities, extending that assessment to the wider UK public sector.
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The two critical PHP flaws could allow attackers to run code on vulnerable servers without logging in. The National Cyber Security Centre urged organisations to apply security updates immediately or consider taking affected systems offline until they could be fixed.
In a local account reported by the BBC, Dean Presley, a garage operator in Chepstow, South Wales, said he had been unable to properly process MOT vehicle tests online. He said his computer system had been down since the morning of 21 October.
Presley said the tests could still be conducted legally, but certificates and paperwork could not be printed and the tests were not appearing on the system. Recording everything on paper was causing delays for his customers, he said.
For government services, Lloyd said officials were working with departments to restore access safely and securely after the security work.
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Update ·
A minister reported 32 unavailable services and four partly unavailable services with no confirmed public-sector breaches, while a Chepstow garage described delays processing MOT records.