Norwich website taken offline over worldwide hacking warning
A second Norfolk authority also pulled its site, but it is back online
A local authority in Norwich has pulled its website offline after a worldwide warning about a security flaw that could leave sites open to hackers.
Norwich City Council's website went down on Wednesday evening and was still offline on Thursday morning.
West Norfolk Council also took its website down on Wednesday, but it was back online by Thursday.
Norwich City Council announced the move on Facebook.
It said: 'We've taken this step as a precaution to help keep our systems safe. This follows a warning about a worldwide security issue that could put websites at risk.'
A spokesman added on Facebook: 'We understand this may be inconvenient and apologise for any disruption.'
The spokesman also said: 'We will share an update as soon as we can. In the meantime, please follow our social media pages for council news and updates.'
They added: 'Thank you for your patience and understanding.'
The council said it would share an update as soon as possible.
The warning follows the discovery of flaws in PHP, a programming language said to power around 70% of the world's websites, including those built on platforms such as WordPress.
The flaws went unnoticed for more than a decade before researchers using advanced AI tools found them in August.
The PHP Foundation had planned to reveal the problem later this month, alongside a fix.
Details leaked on social media on Tuesday, which forced it to release emergency updates on Wednesday.
Security experts have warned the weaknesses could let criminals take control of websites remotely and reach the databases behind them, potentially stealing personal data.
Experts have urged website owners to shut their sites down while they fix the problem.
The National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of GCHQ, has urged organisations to patch their systems immediately.
Norwich is one of many governments, universities and local authorities that have taken their sites offline while they work to fix the problem.
Councils in Edinburgh, Oxford and Bristol were among the British authorities to go dark.
In Scotland, at least seven councils and six health boards took their sites offline at one point on Wednesday evening.