Dutch cybersecurity agency probes suspected hacks linked to PHP flaws

The Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is investigating reports of successful cyberattacks exploiting critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language, warning that the situation could deteriorate rapidly, local media reported Friday.

An NCSC spokesperson told Dutch daily de Volkskrant on Thursday that the reports came through the agency’s international network and were still being verified, according to DutchNews.

There were no indications at that stage that Dutch websites had been successfully targeted, the spokesperson said.

Cybersecurity researchers using artificial intelligence identified at least two serious flaws in PHP, a programming language widely used to build websites.

Details of the vulnerabilities leaked online Monday, prompting PHP developers to announce a security update for Wednesday afternoon.

Attempts to exploit the flaws began before the disclosure, with Amazon reporting an attempted attack on Oct. 17.

US cybersecurity company Cloudflare said the number of hacking attempts rose from thousands before the update to millions afterward, DutchNews reported.

Government, healthcare and news websites were temporarily taken offline while awaiting the security update. DutchNews said its own website was among those affected.

Dutch authorities issued warnings and took numerous websites offline early Wednesday. Governments in Belgium, Germany, France and Finland subsequently took similar steps, according to the report.

The Dutch data protection authority, AP, said Thursday it had not received any reports of data breaches linked to the vulnerabilities.