AI could accelerate hacking as long-standing PHP flaws expose millions of sites

Cybersecurity leaders are warning that artificial intelligence could sharply accelerate the discovery and exploitation of software flaws, leaving organisations unable to fix them quickly enough. The alarm follows the discovery of a severe PHP vulnerability, in what researchers have dubbed “Black October”, and raises concerns about the resilience of internet infrastructure.

The PHP flaws may have existed for decades and could have put millions of websites at risk; some estimates said up to 70% of sites were exposed. Cloudflare reported millions of attempted exploitations after the flaw was disclosed, while US and UK organisations temporarily took sites offline to apply fixes. The US National Security Agency urged PHP users to patch immediately, warning attackers could steal data, disrupt services or gain deeper access to networks.