PHPDeveloper.org

Ken Guests' Blog: Is PHP vulnerable software?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:28:40 -0500

In response to some of the claims made by CNet about the security of PHP, Ken Guest has made a few comments on his blog hoping to correct a few wrongs.

What are featuring in IBM's top ten of vulnerable that makes the report insinuate that the PHP language is a security risk are Jooma, Wordpress and Drupal. How PHP would feature in a list of "vendors" is beside the point.

He illustrates with an allegory that it's not the tool's fault if it's used improperly. Pointing out software like WordPress and Drupal is not the same as pointing out issues with the language that powers them (no matter how trendy it is). The burden is on the developers to use the power the language offers to create more secure, flexible, stable applications. Does PHP have its share of problems? Sure, but get it right next time CNet - don't blame the tool if the builder's not up to spec.

Ivo Jansch's Blog: Apple, Microsoft and PHP are vulnerable

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:47:28 -0500

Ivo Jansch mentions an interesting comparison that CNet made on security and levels of vulnerability in a new blog post today. Their article mentions PHP right along side Apple and Microsoft in their list of "most vulnerable software".

This article once again demonstrates the cluelessness that some people have regarding what PHP is. First of all, PHP is not a vendor, so "Apple, Microsoft & PHP" does not make much sense. Furthermore, the only reason PHP even is mentioned in this context is that Joomla, Drupal and Wordpress appear in the list. So PHP, a programming language, gets blamed for the security flaws that are in these packages.

By their logic (applications written in a language on the list means the language is more insecure), they should have marked C as a more insecure language given the ratio of PHP to C software.