Cyber alert in Germany: Websites taken offline

Numerous websites in Germany have been temporarily shut down amid fears of cyberattacks following the discovery of critical vulnerabilities in the PHP programming language.

TodayPress TV reports, citing German broadcaster NTV, that the websites were taken offline as a precaution.

The affected organisations reportedly include Berlin’s Charité hospital, universities, government agencies — including the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building — as well as authorities in the state of Baden-Württemberg, the city of Mainz and various municipal administrations.

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has issued a warning over the situation. The agency has rated the threat level as orange, describing the risk as extremely high. This level requires urgent action to prevent potential consequences.

According to experts, between 400 million and 500 million websites worldwide use WordPress, a platform built on PHP. Vulnerabilities in the programming language could allow cybercriminals to gain remote control of servers and access confidential information.

Aysel Matlab