AI-Driven Cyber Threats Jump 80% as PHP Flaw Hits 70% of Websites
Updated
Updated · The Conversation · Oct 28
AI-Driven Cyber Threats Jump 80% as PHP Flaw Hits 70% of Websites
2 articles · Updated · The Conversation · Oct 28
Summary
4,400 alerts on potentially malicious cyber activity were issued by Australia’s cyber agency in 2025-26, nearly 80% more than a year earlier, as generative AI speeds the discovery and exploitation of security flaws.
The warning follows a critical PHP vulnerability that pushed many organizations to take sites offline; PHP underpins more than 70% of websites, showing how one shared dependency can disrupt broad swaths of online services.
A full internet shutdown remains highly unlikely because the network is decentralized and reroutes traffic, but outages affecting specific services, logins or cloud-based tools are becoming more plausible.
Organizations are urged to pre-test incident response and recovery plans, while users are advised to keep key documents offline, set up alternative sign-ins and payment methods, and store backup authentication codes.