PHP security risk: Nepal Rastra Bank shuts website and services temporarily, urges banks to stay alert

Nepal Rastra Bank has temporarily shut down its website and other services. The central bank took the step in view of a serious security risk discovered worldwide in the PHP web technology.

In a notice, Rastra Bank apologised for the inconvenience caused to stakeholders in the banking and financial sector and to the general public due to the temporary closure of its website and services.

Issuing an urgent notice, Rastra Bank said a serious security risk had been identified relating to its website and urged banks and financial institutions to adopt security precautions as well.

Following the discovery of the serious cybersecurity vulnerability in PHP technology, various banks and financial institutions in Nepal have also become alert. To protect customer data and banking systems from possible cyberattacks, these institutions have issued notices saying they are working on fixes.

After two serious security flaws were found in PHP, a programming language used worldwide to build websites, government offices and other services in various countries have also temporarily shut down their websites.