Vulnerability in PHP: AI can also be a friend

T he problem is huge - and it's not the AI's fault: security gaps in the PHP programming language affect websites worldwide. PHP is the technological foundation for the majority of web services, and its vulnerability could have become a gateway for criminals. This would not only put the operators of the websites at risk, but also all the people who left data there. And they could have been stolen: email addresses, passwords, account details - be it in the online shop or on a citizen portal. That's why many operators shut down their sites and installed updates that were supposed to restore security.

When politicians like Marc Heinrichmann from the CDU, chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee for Secret Services, sound the alarm, they are not wrong. We are indeed at a “tipping point”. It is also not wrong that AI would quickly turn those vulnerabilities that were previously considered unlikely to be exploited into “real gateways”. In fact, attacks on sites increased dramatically after the security hole became known. Presumably many of these were also supported by AI. But the actual role of this technology in this case is different, a positive one: it was an AI that showed where the problem was.

According to independent cybersecurity companies, the gaps were discovered using AI. Without them it would probably not have been possible to find the security hole. The software we work with in almost all areas of life is now so complex and the number of applications so huge that it is difficult to view and examine them without AI.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

The solution is not AI panic, but rather the prudent use of this technology. AI is a tool that criminals can use. But also all those who want to protect the security of our data - and thus our coexistence.