Austrian cybersecurity experts report an 18.1% patch rate for a widespread software vulnerability, leaving thousands of websites exposed.
Diepresse.com reported that of 46,182 vulnerable PHP websites identified in Austria, only 6,322 had been patched, according to an analysis by the consulting firm EY. A follow-up measurement found that 28,622 sites remained vulnerable.
The issue stems from critical security flaws in the programming language PHP, disclosed at the end of October. Sicher mehrfach am Tag.
An expert noted that what used to be an update task every few weeks now must be considered almost every day. The analysis revealed that 46,182 of 1,059,104 reachable websites in Austria reported a vulnerable PHP version.
Das Problem sind Systeme, die niemand mehr auf dem Radar hat: das Intranet aus 2017, das Zeiterfassungstool, die Web-Oberfläche eines Netzwerkspeichers, eine Appliance, die PHP eingebettet mitbringt.
PHP steht nicht auf der Produktverpackung oben
, stated Ralph Wenighofer, CSO and sales director at techbold.
He noted that many clients have at least one system not listed in their inventory, making it impossible to answer the question Sind wir betroffen?
(Are we affected?). One manager, who previously tried to undetectedly infiltrate companies, conducted tests including technical, physical, and social engineering. He concluded that good security products fail when people do not lock devices, open attachments, or follow unknown senders.
Patching a vulnerable system can be done in about fifteen minutes, but experts say the real work lies in a three-part response. The first question is whether everything has been addressed, including containers, test systems, and appliances.
The second is whether an attacker was already inside, which requires searching for changed files, unknown processes, and unusual network traffic. The third is what changes are needed to prevent a recurrence. Wer nur Punkt eins macht, hat ein gutes Gefühl. Wer alle drei macht, sei auf der sicheren Seite
, Wenighofer explained.
Angreifer scannen das Internet automatisiert – mit Bots und zunehmend mit KI – nach veralteten Softwareständen.
Gefundene Zugänge werden im Darknet verkauft
, the experts warned. The two managers agreed that leadership must take the increased effort of IT security officers seriously and that more resources for skilled personnel, monitoring, and audits are necessary.
