Since Wednesday, October 21, several institutional websites in the Alpes-Maritimes and Monaco have been temporarily unavailable due to a global cybersecurity alert. A critical vulnerability related to the PHP programming language led to the preventive suspension of certain services. Nice Côte d’Azur airport regained access to its portal on Thursday morning.
Institutional websites in the Alpes-Maritimes and Monaco were placed under maintenance since Wednesday evening. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, the princely government and the platforms of the Nice Côte d’Azur and Cannes-Mandelieu airports were notably affected by these disruptions.
This interruption follows a cybersecurity alert concerning critical vulnerabilities affecting PHP, a programming language widely used for website operations, particularly those based on WordPress.
In response to the risk, the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (Anssi) requested the preventive maintenance of websites exposed to this vulnerability. The objective is to limit the risks of intrusion and protect the data hosted on the affected servers.
The Ministry of the Interior clarified the reasons for this measure: « At the request of Anssi, the Ministry of the Interior proceeded with the preventive maintenance of all its websites exposed to a critical security vulnerability, announced a few hours ago by the publisher of a generic software component widely used around the world. »
Technical teams must proceed with necessary updates as soon as security patches are available. In the meantime, the ministry also announced that information normally published on prefecture websites would be shared on social media and through public notices.
Nice airport accessible again, Monaco awaiting restoration
In the Alpes-Maritimes, the disruptions notably affected the prefecture’s online services as well as the websites of Nice Côte d’Azur and Cannes-Mandelieu airports. On X, the airport platform had reported the unavailability of its websites due to a technical incident.
The Nice Côte d’Azur airport portal was accessible again Thursday morning at 10:15 a.m. The interruption had notably prevented users from accessing the online booking service.
On the side of the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, the website displayed a maintenance notice. No specific communication from the prefecture regarding this temporary closure was reported in available information.
In Monaco, the suspension of external access concerns the websites of the princely government. In a message published Thursday morning, Monaco authorities explained that the decision had been made as a precautionary measure, in agreement with the Monégasque Digital Security Agency (AMSN).
Monaco’s government clarified: « Due to critical global vulnerabilities identified in PHP technology (very commonly used for websites), the Department of Infrastructure and Information Systems (DISI) had to proceed, as a precaution and in agreement with AMSN, with the suspension of external access to the Princely Government’s websites. At this stage, these sites remain accessible from Government workstations. This interruption is effective immediately, for a currently undetermined duration. »
The Principality indicates that access will be progressively restored when the problem is resolved and all security conditions are met.
The incident extends beyond the Alpes-Maritimes and Monaco. Several institutional websites around the world were also affected by this alert. The restoration of services depends on security operations and the necessary updates to correct the identified vulnerabilities.
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