AI-assisted discovery exposes internet's fragile PHP foundation

A critical vulnerability in PHP, a foundational programming language powering roughly 70% of websites, forced urgent patching or site shutdowns this week, exposing the internet's fragile, open-source underpinnings. The flaw, present for decades, was discovered through AI-assisted research, raising alarms about future exploitation. The vulnerabilities were found by human researchers using AI tools from OpenAI and Wiz, not by AI alone, though the disclosure triggered immediate mass hacking attempts. Experts warn this marks a "reckoning moment," as AI agents make it easier to find similar flaws in aging infrastructure, with millions of attack attempts already reported. The incident highlights systemic risks: many site owners don't know they use PHP, and smaller entities lack resources to respond, unlike well-capitalized firms like Amazon. This could lead to widespread "link rot" as sites go offline, and may spur new cybersecurity startups or extreme precautionary behavior.