The risks of outdated PHP versions

Our highest priority is to provide secure and reliable hosting services. We want to ensure that our customers’ websites and applications are protected from security threats and perform optimally. Providing supported PHP versions is part of this.

In fact, using outdated PHP versions poses several risks. Therefore, we motivate our customers to bring the PHP version in their portal to the latest version. Here are some key points that show why you should update PHP versions:

1. Security vulnerabilities
   Older PHP versions no longer receive security updates from developers. This means that any security vulnerabilities discovered will not be fixed, leaving your website and applications vulnerable to attacks and breaches. Hackers can use known vulnerabilities in outdated versions to gain access to your system.
   
   
2. Reduced performance and stability
   Newer PHP versions often include optimizations and bug fixes that improve the performance and stability of your applications. Using an outdated version may result in slower loading times, increased memory usage and possible compatibility issues with new software libraries.
   
   
3. Lack of support and new features
   Over time, developers of outdated PHP versions stop providing official support. As a result, you miss out on important new features and improvements available in more recent versions. Using up-to-date versions allows you to take advantage of the latest developments and improvements in the programming language.
   
   
4. Compatibility issues
   As new technologies and frameworks are introduced, they may depend on specific features or functionalities that are only available in newer PHP versions. Using an outdated version can lead to problems with (new) themes, plugins and other components of your application or website.
   

In short, it is crucial to regularly update your PHP versions to plug security vulnerabilities, improve performance, avoid compatibility issues and access new features.

In our support article, we explain how to change the PHP version.