Blue House Holds Emergency Meeting Over Global "PHP Emergency"... Urges Swift Action by Public, Private and Military Sectors as One Team

A critical security vulnerability has been discovered in PHP, a programming language used by more than 70% of websites worldwide. The Blue House held an emergency meeting and called for a swift response.

The National Security Office of the Blue House said it had convened an emergency public-private-military cybersecurity response meeting on October 22, chaired by Third Deputy Director Song Ki-ho, to assess the vulnerability related to PHP and the response. The meeting was attended by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Intelligence Service, among others, which are agencies responsible for cybersecurity crises.

PHP is a programming language widely used on websites around the world. It was recently revealed that hackers could access servers and execute arbitrary commands without logging in or undergoing authentication. Concerns have also been raised that a successful attack could lead to the theft of personal information or the takeover of servers.

The agencies at the meeting reviewed PHP usage and response measures in their respective sectors. They also discussed response measures for the vulnerability, including promptly applying security updates, implementing temporary protection measures for websites unable to install updates immediately, and checking for signs of compromise. The participating agencies agreed to share threat information and response updates in real time and coordinate closely going forward.

Song Ki-ho, Third Deputy Director of the National Security Office, said, "This vulnerability allows servers to be taken over without authentication, and attack attempts have already been reported overseas. How quickly we respond will determine the scale of the damage." He instructed the agencies to "swiftly complete the necessary measures as one team across the public, private, and military sectors." The office said it would continue to monitor the response with relevant agencies and consider any additional measures needed as the situation changes.

Meanwhile, the office explained, "To address this vulnerability, South Korea has raised the cyber crisis alert for the private sector from 'Attention' to 'Caution.' Public institutions and the military are in a relatively safe position because their use of PHP is low."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.