Rappler reported on 23 October that Japan will form a team that uses AI to simulate cyberattacks and find weak spots in technology systems. The move follows critical flaws in PHP, a programming language that runs much of the web. Rappler said government and company sites around the world went offline this week, and the flaws drew millions of hacking attempts. PHP's developers released fixes on Wednesday for flaws that sat unnoticed for years until AI tools found them. SoftBank said it paused its mobile emergency alerts for earthquakes, tsunamis and evacuations while it fixes a PHP flaw.
Rappler named Nomura, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, ANA and East Japan Railway as firms that paused some online services. Japan's finance ministry, tax agency and weather agency did the same. JR East said some services are back and the rest will return once confirmed safe. Nippon Paint said it applied a patch and is online again. It is not yet clear how many sites were hit, whether any attacks got in, or when Japan's team will start. No date has been reported for restoring SoftBank's alerts.
PHP's developers urged users to update immediately. For teams that run PHP sites, or buy software built on PHP, checking for these fixes comes first. The week also shows that one flaw in a common language can reach banks, rail and emergency alerts at the same time.