Some government websites still down in response to security risk

OTTAWA — Some federal government websites are still out of commission as Ottawa takes precautions against a global security risk.

Governments and corporations worked throughout the night on urgent security updates after the AI-assisted discovery of vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language vital to 70 per cent of websites globally.

The office of the federal government’s chief information officer says security updates are being applied and some government websites may be temporarily unavailable or experience service disruptions while the measures are being implemented.

The office says work is underway to restore access as quickly and securely as possible.

There is no indication that any federal systems have been compromised, the office says.

Artificial intelligence agents helped uncover the vulnerabilities and OpenAI says it has led a coalition of researchers, security providers and others to address vulnerabilities in PHP over the past two months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press