The temporary shutdown of several Latvian government and municipal websites, along with restrictions on access to certain digital services, has raised concerns about the security of information systems. These measures were prompted by two critical vulnerabilities in the widely used PHP programming language, potentially affecting thousands of digital resources in Latvia and millions worldwide.
Although disruptions to digital services cause inconvenience for citizens and businesses, the most important question in this situation is not why such vulnerabilities have emerged, but how quickly we can respond, mitigate the risks and restore services.
Problem is not unique to Latvia
First, it is important to recognise that the current situation is not unique to Latvia. PHP is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world, supporting everything from public sector websites and online stores to a wide range of digital services. This means that a single significant vulnerability in this technology can simultaneously affect a large number of organisations across different countries.
Similar preventive measures are also being implemented elsewhere in Europe, including Finland, Germany, France and the Netherlands, where access to certain digital resources is being restricted or services are being temporarily suspended to reduce potential risks and allow the necessary security updates to be implemented. The current situation should therefore not automatically be interpreted as evidence of shortcomings in Latvia's information systems.
Critical vulnerabilities can be discovered in any software, including technologies that are widely used and well established. No system is completely immune to such risks, whether in the public or private sector.
Restricting access does not guarantee protection
The decision to restrict access to potentially vulnerable systems as a preventive measure is understandable and justified. If there is a risk that a vulnerability could be exploited to gain unauthorised access to a system, temporarily restricting its availability may be necessary to allow time for security updates.
At the same time, restricting access solely from abroad does not, in itself, guarantee adequate protection. Today, cybercriminals do not necessarily have to be physically located in the country from which an attack appears to originate. By using various technological solutions and proxy servers, attackers can make it appear as though requests are coming from Latvia, even when they are operating from elsewhere in the world.
This means that geographical access restrictions may reduce certain risks, but they cannot be considered a comprehensive security solution. If a vulnerability is critical and its exploitation could have serious consequences, the safest temporary approach may be to completely isolate the affected system from the public internet until the necessary updates have been implemented.
However, any such restriction should remain a temporary measure. The primary objective must be to address the vulnerability and restore access to services as quickly as possible.
Similar situations will arise again
We must recognise that situations like this may become increasingly common in the future. One reason is the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), which is fundamentally changing both software development and security testing. AI already helps developers write code faster, analyse complex systems and identify potential errors. However, the same capabilities can also be exploited for malicious purposes. While identifying vulnerabilities previously required considerable time and specialised technical expertise, AI tools can now significantly accelerate certain stages of this process.
This does not necessarily mean that software is becoming less secure, but vulnerabilities can be identified and potentially exploited much faster than before. As a result, the time available for organisations to respond to emerging threats is also shrinking. Under these circumstances, simply implementing security solutions is no longer sufficient.
Organisations must continuously monitor emerging risks, apply updates promptly and, when necessary, make immediate decisions to restrict access to vulnerable systems.
Digital services must be secure as well as convenient
The current situation once again demonstrates that the development of digital services cannot focus solely on new features and user convenience. Naturally, government and business digital services should be simple, fast and easy to use, but ensuring their security and reliability is equally important. No information system is perfect, and no software can be developed in a way that guarantees vulnerabilities will never be discovered.
Cybersecurity must therefore not be treated as a one-off task completed during the development or implementation of a system. It requires continuous investment in software maintenance, regular security updates, vulnerability assessments and improvements to technological infrastructure.
This also applies to systems that have been operating for many years and whose functionality may appear to require no further changes. When planning budgets for digital solutions, organisations must allocate funding not only for developing new systems but also for maintaining the security of existing ones throughout their entire lifecycle. Otherwise, even a system that was originally developed to a high standard can become vulnerable over time.
The current situation also serves as a practical test of how well Latvia's digital infrastructure is prepared to respond to unexpected cybersecurity threats. It is clear that critical vulnerabilities will continue to be discovered in widely used technologies. As technology advances and AI capabilities expand, we are likely to face such challenges increasingly often. Therefore, the cybersecurity readiness of governments and businesses should not be assessed solely on whether they have managed to avoid a particular incident. What matters far more is how quickly organisations can identify threats, make the necessary decisions, implement security updates and restore services.
This will also be one of the key measures of how successfully the current situation has been handled: how quickly the risks can be addressed and the digital services that citizens and businesses rely on can be restored. In the long term, our digital security will be determined not by our ability to prevent every vulnerability, but by how effectively we are prepared to respond when vulnerabilities emerge.
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