Japan takes PHP-based government sites offline over security flaws as US keeps them online

Japan is taking some PHP-powered government and public websites offline today over newly disclosed security flaws, while the United States is keeping comparable sites online, Nikkei Asia reports. The split response underscores a widening gap in cyber risk tolerance and patching strategy between two major economies. It also highlights how vulnerabilities in PHP, a language underpinning a large share of the web, can ripple across public services.

According to Nikkei Asia, Japanese authorities instructed operators to temporarily disable affected pages as a precaution pending fixes and validation. US agencies have opted to apply mitigations and monitoring without pulling services, prioritizing continuity while vendors prepare patches, the outlet says. Watch for coordinated advisories, confirmed timelines for fixes from PHP maintainers, and any reports of exploitation or extended outages. [Developing. This article will be updated.]