Malware campaign targets official Python and JavaScript repos

An active malware campaign is targeting official Python and JavaScript repositories.

Software supply chain security firm Phylum spotted the campaign. Phylum said that it discovered the campaign after noticing a flurry of activity around typosquats of the popular Python requests package.

Typosquats take advantage of simple typos to install malicious packages.

In this case, the PyPI typos include: dequests, fequests, gequests, rdquests, reauests, reduests,...

13 December 2022 | Hacking & Security

Syntax error breaks KmsdBot cryptomining botnet

A syntax error broke an otherwise advanced cryptomining botnet called KmsdBot.

The malware, which could also be used for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, was discovered by Akamai Security Research.

Akamai’s researchers witnessed the authors “accidentally crash” KmsdBot after observing the malware stopped sending attack commands after receiving:

!bigdata www.bitcoin.com443 / 30 3 3 100 

The lack of a space between the website and the...

6 December 2022 | Hacking & Security

Cyber Security & Cloud Expo: Examining the 2022 malware landscape

Geopolitical tensions and the largest war in Europe for decades have defined the malware landscape in 2022.

Recorded Future has been capturing global threat information from the internet, dark web, and technical sources for over a decade. The firm combines this vast amount of data with AI and human expertise to spot threats early and provide actionable insights to security professionals.

Toby Wilmington, Manager - Sales Engineering at Recorded Future, provided his...

23 September 2022 | Hacking & Security

Better app security cannot start with tools

There is a common trope in science fiction movies where robots start to think for themselves and launch a war with humans for control of Earth.

These storylines come from a familiar place. We continue to see robots, machines, and technological tools replace many traditional jobs requiring a human touch. Many industries, such as manufacturing, rely heavily on these devices, with automation a growing threat to the workforce.

Technological tools remain critical to software...

20 September 2022 | Development Tools

PyPI maintainers warn of ongoing phishing attack

The maintainers of the Python Package Index (PyPI) have warned of an ongoing phishing attack targeting users.

“Today we received reports of a phishing campaign targeting PyPI users. This is the first known phishing attack against PyPI,” wrote the maintainers in a tweet.

A phishing email is sent to users warning that PyPI is implementing a mandatory ‘validation’ process and that users must follow a link or risk their package being removed:

The...

25 August 2022 | Hacking & Security

PyPI package installs cryptominer on Linux systems

A malicious PyPI package was used to install a Monero cryptominer on Linux systems.

The package in question, secretslib, was pushed to the official third-party software repo for Python on 6th August 2022. The package was described as “secrets matching and verification made easy”.

Sonatype’s automated malware detection system flagged secretslib as potentially malicious. Further analysis proved its suspicions to be correct.

“The package covertly runs...

15 August 2022 | Hacking & Security

GitHub now sends Dependabot alerts for vulnerable Actions

GitHub has announced that it will begin sending Dependabot alerts when it detects vulnerable GitHub Actions.

GitHub Actions makes it easy for developers to automate their workflows. Dependabot, meanwhile, automatically updates dependencies to keep your projects secure.

When an Action vulnerability is discovered, GitHub’s team of security researchers will create an advisory to document it. Following the creation of an advisory, Dependabot alerts will be sent to impacted...

11 August 2022 | Git

Introducing OpenTDF: Open source, accessible security for developers

At Virtru, we believe that the ability to securely share data is essential — and that privacy is a human right that must be protected. It’s a mission we have stuck by since we started in 2011, and sees us supporting over 7,000 organisations worldwide to protect their most valuable asset, their data, with Zero-Trust security and powerful, granular policy controls that tie identity to data, everywhere it moves.

Now, Virtru is giving developers a new way to build security...

28 July 2022 | API

Source code for Rust-based malware leaks on hacking forums

The source code for an info-stealing malware based on Rust has leaked on hacking forums.

Security analysts claim the malware is actively used in attacks and it appears to have a high antivirus evasion rate. VirusTotal returns a detection rate of around 22 percent.

The developer claims to have developed the malware in just six hours. Despite being based on Rust, the malware currently only targets Windows machines.

Cybersecurity firm Cyble analysed the malware...

26 July 2022 | Hacking & Security

Web3 projects lost over $2B to hacks in H1 2022

A report from CertiK finds that web3 projects lost over $2 billion to hacks in H1 2022—more than all of 2021 combined.

“2022 is already the most expensive year for web3 by far. From these numbers, 2022 is forecast to see a 223% increase in the funds lost to attacks when compared with 2021,” wrote CeriK in their report.

CertiK’s sobering report highlights the difficulties of an industry that pitches itself as returning to the decentralised ideals of web1 while...

8 July 2022 | Blockchain