A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Sunday, Oct. 9 photo illustration. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Some government websites still down in response to security risk

Oct 22, 2026 | 12:02 PM

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.