The modern digital economy has reached an advanced stage of resilience: some of it is being switched off.

Wired reports that governments took websites offline as emergency fixes arrived for two critical flaws in PHP, a programming language used across publishing and online commerce. The UK’s cybersecurity agency advised taking systems offline when immediate remediation wasn’t possible. An excellent security upgrade, with one small usability issue.

The flaws reach back to PHP 5, released in 2004. The project’s patches cover supported versions; some outside vendors offer fixes for older ones. Somewhere behind the contemporary customer experience may be a layer old enough to have opinions about the first iPod.

Google-owned Wiz says AI helped it find the vulnerabilities. Experts also warn that AI can accelerate exploitation. At last, an AI race in which the finish line is a website politely saying it cannot help you today.

Make powerful people uncomfortable.
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