Some government websites taken down in response to security risk: AI minister

Some government websites have been taken down temporarily as a precaution against a security risk, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said Wednesday.

In a social media post, Solomon said the websites went dark to protect government systems and Canadians' information following guidance from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

He says this is being done in response to a vulnerability identified in PHP, a widely used programming language.

"This is a global issue, and other governments and organizations are also taking protective measures," he said.

The website of the Finnish government was only partly available Wednesday. A message to visitors said Finnish government websites were experiencing a temporary disruption and were fully or partially unavailable while the issue was being resolved.

The FBI’s cyber division said the vulnerability could allow malicious actors to remotely execute code in the programming language, potentially compromising sensitive data and networks.

The PHP Foundation, which includes developers who work on securing the programming language, said it has released fixes for the vulnerabilities, along with instructions on how to update systems.

Solomon said affected federal websites will be restored once patches are applied. The Canadian Press has asked Treasury Board which government websites have been taken down but has not yet received a response.

"We take this situation extremely seriously," said Solomon. "Thank you to the cybersecurity teams working to protect the services Canadians rely on."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.