Japanese ministries partly suspend webpages after PHP security flaws
Japan took some ministry webpages offline as a precaution on October 22. Its chief cabinet secretary said no related damage to government websites had been reported.
Japanese ministries partly suspended webpages on October 22 as a precaution after vulnerabilities were detected in PHP, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said, according to Kyodo News. He said no damage to government websites related to the flaws had been reported. The action affects access to some public information while operators address the security risk.
Kyodo did not identify the affected ministry webpages or say when they would return. It reported that the vulnerabilities were flagged on October 21 after being found with the assistance of artificial intelligence. PHP is a programming language used to generate webpages on servers, making flaws in it a concern for operators beyond the Japanese government.
Banks, rail websites and restaurant apps affected
The response extended to major Japanese businesses. MUFG Bank and West Japan Railway Company announced extraordinary system maintenance on October 22, Kyodo reported. MUFG said some services, including online applications to open investment trust accounts, would be unavailable during the work. West Japan Railway said it had suspended about 60 websites across its group.
Restaurant operator Zensho Holdings said it had stopped app services for its Sukiya and Hama-sushi chains as a precaution from the night of October 21, according to Kyodo. These interruptions show the immediate effect of precautionary shutdowns on customers seeking banking, railway information and restaurant services; the report did not establish that those services had been compromised.
PHP fixes and wider website shutdowns
The Times of India reported that government portals and other public websites in Europe and elsewhere also went offline as operators responded to the flaws. PHP developers published security fixes and urged site owners and server administrators to update immediately, it reported. Temporary suspensions give operators time to apply those fixes before restoring access.
The Times of India attributed discovery of a flaw to cybersecurity firm Wiz’s Atlas system working with Google’s Gemini 4 Argon and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol. It reported that Wiz worked with PHP developers, OpenAI and security firm Calif to verify the bug and prepare fixes. Wiz warned that AI tools could make attacks against unpatched servers easier to scale; the warning describes a potential risk, rather than reported damage to the Japanese ministry sites.
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Sources and context
- Websites of Japanese ministries partially suspended due to PHP vulnerabilitiesThe Straits Times, carrying Kyodo News reporting
- Decades-old flaw in PHP discovered by Google, OpenAI AI tools forces government and public websites to go offline globallyThe Times of India
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.