PHP 5.6 Security Support Ends 12/31/2018 – Are You Prepared?

If your website is running  on PHP version 5.6 you should be aware that security-related support for PHP version 5.6 ends 12/31/2018.  After that date, no new security patches will be released for newly-discovered security vulnerabilities. If you are in this position, you should upgrade to version 7.1 or later (Version 7.2 is current).

Some web hosting companies provide a very easy mechanism for switching PHP versions.  In some cases, it is a setting in your control panel.

Be aware however that older WordPress themes may be dependent upon functions in version 5.6 that are no longer available in version 7.x.  If that’s the case then the upgrade to version 7.x will break your website.  If that happens you’ll need to see if the provider of your theme has a new version.  If not then you’ll need to switch to a newer theme.

This is one of those situations where it is best to have a ‘test’ or ‘development’ copy of your website on a private server so you can try upgrades and other changes without risking breaking your live website.

An aside: We still see websites running on version 5.4 of PHP.  Security support ended for that version 3 years ago. Those websites are just ticking timebombs.