PyPI suspends registrations amid malware attack

The Python Package Index (PyPI) has suspended new project creation and user registration to mitigate an ongoing malware upload campaign. This move comes as security researchers at Checkmarx uncovered a campaign involving multiple malicious packages related to the same threat actors.

The attackers are targeting victims through typosquatting attacks, tricking users into installing malicious Python packages through their command-line interface. This multi-stage attack aims to steal...

28 March 2024 | Developer

NVIDIA employs GenAI for rapid software vulnerability detection

NVIDIA has demonstrated how its generative AI technologies can help to quickly identify and mitigate common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) and other software security risks.

The NVIDIA NIM and NeMo Retriever microservices – along with the Morpheus accelerated AI framework – enable security analysts to detect and mitigate risks in a matter of seconds, a task that previously took hours or even days using traditional methods.

Traditional cybersecurity methods...

19 March 2024 | Artificial Intelligence

Google paid $10M to bug hunters in 2023

Google has revealed that it paid out $10 million to over 600 bug hunters from 68 countries in 2023.

Throughout the year, Google's bug hunter community played a pivotal role in identifying and addressing thousands of vulnerabilities across various Google platforms. The company's dedication to incentivising researchers saw the introduction of several new programs and improvements to existing ones.

Among the notable developments was the launch of the Bonus Awards program,...

13 March 2024 | Android

GitHub enables secret scanning push protection by default

In response to the alarming trend of API keys, tokens, and other confidential data being inadvertently exposed, GitHub has taken further steps to fortify its platform against potential breaches.

Within the first two months of 2024, GitHub has uncovered one million leaked secrets across public repositories, averaging over a dozen incidents per minute. Such alarming figures underscore the pressing need for robust safeguards to protect users and their data.

Since August...

1 March 2024 | Developer

GitHub suffers from over 100K infected repos

Developers face a major security threat as over 100,000 repositories on GitHub are infected with malicious code.

This resurgence of a malicious repo confusion campaign – detected by Apiiro’s security researchers – has impacted countless developers who unwittingly use repositories they believe to be trusted but are, in fact, compromised.

Similar to dependency confusion attacks – which exploit package managers – repo confusion attacks rely on human error,...

29 February 2024 | Developer

White House urges adoption of memory-safe programming languages

The White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) has released a new report today urging the technology industry to take steps to reduce vulnerabilities in software that leave digital systems open to cyberattacks.

The report, titled "Back to the Building Blocks: A Path Toward Secure and Measurable Software," emphasises the importance of technology manufacturers adopting memory-safe programming languages to prevent entire classes of vulnerabilities from entering the...

27 February 2024 | Hacking & Security

Python packages caught using DLL sideloading to bypass security

ReversingLabs researchers have uncovered Python packages using DLL sideloading to bypass security tools.

On 10 January 2024, Karlo Zanki, a reverse engineer at ReversingLabs, stumbled upon two suspicious packages on the Python Package Index (PyPI). These packages – named NP6HelperHttptest and NP6HelperHttper – were found to be utilising DLL sideloading, a known technique used by malicious actors to execute code discreetly and evade detection from security tools.

This...

21 February 2024 | Hacking & Security

GitHub rotates credentials following vulnerability discovery

GitHub has rotated encryption keys following the discovery of a vulnerability that could have enabled threat actors to steal credentials, the company revealed Tuesday.  

The Microsoft-owned firm said it first became aware of the high-severity security flaw tracked as CVE-2024-0200 on 26 December 2023. After investigating the issue and verifying there was no evidence it had been exploited in attacks, GitHub moved swiftly to rotate potentially exposed keys the same day as a...

17 January 2024 | Developer

PHP 8.0 reaches EOL leaving some websites vulnerable

PHP 8.0 reached its end of life (EOL) on 26 November 2023 and will no longer receive any updates or patches.

PHP 8.0 was released on 26 November 2020 and brought many new features and improvements such as named arguments, attributes, constructor property promotion, match expression, nullsafe operator, JIT, and more.

The EOL of PHP 8.0 means that any websites still using it will be exposed to potential security risks and compatibility issues if they do not upgrade to a...

27 November 2023 | Developer

Checkmarx uncovers persistent Python package threat

Checkmarx has uncovered a threat actor that has been quietly infiltrating the open-source ecosystem for nearly six months, planting malicious Python packages with a focus on deception and financial gain.

The malicious actor employed a systematic approach, disguising their packages with names closely resembling popular legitimate Python packages. These decoy packages, camouflaged to blend in, successfully garnered thousands of downloads. The malicious payload, embedded within the...

16 November 2023 | Developer