New Malicious PyPI Packages Caught Using Covert Side-Loading Tactics

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two malicious packages on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that were found leveraging a technique called DLL side-loading to circumvent detection by security software and run malicious code. The packages, named NP6HelperHttptest and NP6HelperHttper, were each downloaded 537 and 166 times, respectively,

Ubuntu 'command-not-found' Tool Could Trick Users into Installing Rogue Packages

Cybersecurity researchers have found that it's possible for threat actors to exploit a well-known utility called command-not-found to recommend their own rogue packages and compromise systems running Ubuntu operating system. "While 'command-not-found' serves as a convenient tool for suggesting installations for uninstalled commands, it can be inadvertently manipulated by attackers through the

Beware: Fake Facebook Job Ads Spreading 'Ov3r_Stealer' to Steal Crypto and Credentials

Threat actors are leveraging bogus Facebook job advertisements as a lure to trick prospective targets into installing a new Windows-based stealer malware codenamed Ov3r_Stealer. "This malware is designed to steal credentials and crypto wallets and send those to a Telegram channel that the threat actor monitors," Trustwave SpiderLabs said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Ov3r_Stealer

How a $10B Enterprise Customer Drastically Increased their SaaS Security Posture with 201% ROI by Using SSPM

SaaS applications are the darlings of the software world. They enable work from anywhere, facilitate collaboration, and offer a cost-effective alternative to owning the software outright. At the same time, the very features that make SaaS apps so embraced – access from anywhere and collaboration – can also be exploited by threat actors. Recently, Adaptive Shield commissioned a Total Economic

Top Security Posture Vulnerabilities Revealed

Each New Year introduces a new set of challenges and opportunities for strengthening our cybersecurity posture. It's the nature of the field – the speed at which malicious actors carry out advanced persistent threats brings a constant, evolving battle for cyber resilience. The excitement in cybersecurity lies in this continuous adaptation and learning, always staying one step ahead of potential

Malicious PyPI Packages Slip WhiteSnake InfoStealer Malware onto Windows Machines

Cybersecurity researchers have identified malicious packages on the open-source Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that deliver an information stealing malware called WhiteSnake Stealer on Windows systems. The malware-laced packages are named nigpal, figflix, telerer, seGMM, fbdebug, sGMM, myGens, NewGends, and TestLibs111. They have been uploaded by a threat actor named "WS." "These

PAX PoS Terminal Flaw Could Allow Attackers to Tamper with Transactions

The point-of-sale (PoS) terminals from PAX Technology are impacted by a collection of high-severity vulnerabilities that can be weaponized by threat actors to execute arbitrary code. The STM Cyber R&D team, which reverse engineered the Android-based devices manufactured by the Chinese firm owing to their rapid deployment in Poland, said it unearthed half a dozen flaws that allow for

Cloud Atlas' Spear-Phishing Attacks Target Russian Agro and Research Companies

The threat actor referred to as Cloud Atlas has been linked to a set of spear-phishing attacks on Russian enterprises. Targets included a Russian agro-industrial enterprise and a state-owned research company, according to a report from F.A.C.C.T., a standalone cybersecurity company formed after Group-IB's formal exit from Russia earlier this year. Cloud Atlas, active since at

Hackers Abusing GitHub to Evade Detection and Control Compromised Hosts

Threat actors are increasingly making use of GitHub for malicious purposes through novel methods, including abusing secret Gists and issuing malicious commands via git commit messages. "Malware authors occasionally place their samples in services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Discord to host second stage malware and sidestep detection tools," ReversingLabs researcher Karlo Zanki&nbsp

Top 7 Trends Shaping SaaS Security in 2024

Over the past few years, SaaS has developed into the backbone of corporate IT. Service businesses, such as medical practices, law firms, and financial services firms, are almost entirely SaaS based. Non-service businesses, including manufacturers and retailers, have about 70% of their software in the cloud.  These applications contain a wealth of data, from minimally sensitive general

Ransomware-as-a-Service: The Growing Threat You Can't Ignore

Ransomware attacks have become a significant and pervasive threat in the ever-evolving realm of cybersecurity. Among the various iterations of ransomware, one trend that has gained prominence is Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS). This alarming development has transformed the cybercrime landscape, enabling individuals with limited technical expertise to carry out devastating attacks.

Make a Fresh Start for 2024: Clean Out Your User Inventory to Reduce SaaS Risk

As work ebbs with the typical end-of-year slowdown, now is a good time to review user roles and privileges and remove anyone who shouldn’t have access as well as trim unnecessary permissions. In addition to saving some unnecessary license fees, a clean user inventory significantly enhances the security of your SaaS applications. From reducing risk to protecting against data leakage, here is how

Transform Your Data Security Posture – Learn from SoFi's DSPM Success

As cloud technology evolves, so does the challenge of securing sensitive data. In a world where data duplication and sprawl are common, organizations face increased risks of non-compliance and unauthorized data breaches. Sentra's DSPM (Data Security Posture Management) emerges as a comprehensive solution, offering continuous discovery and accurate classification of sensitive data in the cloud.

North Korean Hackers Pose as Job Recruiters and Seekers in Malware Campaigns

North Korean threat actors have been linked to two campaigns in which they masquerade as both job recruiters and seekers to distribute malware and obtain unauthorized employment with organizations based in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The activity clusters have been codenamed Contagious Interview and Wagemole, respectively, by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. While the first set of attacks

AI Solutions Are the New Shadow IT

Ambitious Employees Tout New AI Tools, Ignore Serious SaaS Security RisksLike the SaaS shadow IT of the past, AI is placing CISOs and cybersecurity teams in a tough but familiar spot.  Employees are covertly using AI with little regard for established IT and cybersecurity review procedures. Considering ChatGPT’s meteoric rise to 100 million users within 60 days of launch, especially with little

27 Malicious PyPI Packages with Thousands of Downloads Found Targeting IT Experts

An unknown threat actor has been observed publishing typosquat packages to the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository for nearly six months with an aim to deliver malware capable of gaining persistence, stealing sensitive data, and accessing cryptocurrency wallets for financial gain. The 27 packages, which masqueraded as popular legitimate Python libraries, attracted thousands of downloads,

The Importance of Continuous Security Monitoring for a Robust Cybersecurity Strategy

In 2023, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.45 million. Beyond the immediate financial loss, there are long-term consequences like diminished customer trust, weakened brand value, and derailed business operations. In a world where the frequency and cost of data breaches are skyrocketing, organizations are coming face-to-face with a harsh reality: traditional cybersecurity

Top 5 Marketing Tech SaaS Security Challenges

Effective marketing operations today are driven by the use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications. Marketing apps such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Outreach, Asana, Monday, and Box empower marketing teams, agencies, freelancers, and subject matter experts to collaborate seamlessly on campaigns and marketing initiatives.  These apps serve as the digital command centers for marketing

48 Malicious npm Packages Found Deploying Reverse Shells on Developer Systems

A new set of 48 malicious npm packages have been discovered in the npm repository with capabilities to deploy a reverse shell on compromised systems. "These packages, deceptively named to appear legitimate, contained obfuscated JavaScript designed to initiate a reverse shell on package install," software supply chain security firm Phylum said. All the counterfeit packages have been published by

SaaS Security is Now Accessible and Affordable to All

This new product offers SaaS discovery and risk assessment coupled with a free user access review in a unique “freemium” model Securing employees' SaaS usage is becoming increasingly crucial for most cloud-based organizations. While numerous tools are available to address this need, they often employ different approaches and technologies, leading to unnecessary confusion and complexity. Enter

API Security Trends 2023 – Have Organizations Improved their Security Posture?

APIs, also known as application programming interfaces, serve as the backbone of modern software applications, enabling seamless communication and data exchange between different systems and platforms. They provide developers with an interface to interact with external services, allowing them to integrate various functionalities into their own applications. However, this increased reliance on

Protecting Your Microsoft IIS Servers Against Malware Attacks

Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is a web server software package designed for Windows Server. Organizations commonly use Microsoft IIS servers to host websites, files, and other content on the web. Threat actors increasingly target these Internet-facing resources as low-hanging fruit for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities that facilitate access to IT environments.  Recently, a

North Korean Hackers Deploy New Malicious Python Packages in PyPI Repository

Three additional rogue Python packages have been discovered in the Package Index (PyPI) repository as part of an ongoing malicious software supply chain campaign called VMConnect, with signs pointing to the involvement of North Korean state-sponsored threat actors. The findings come from ReversingLabs, which detected the packages tablediter, request-plus, and requestspro. First disclosed at the

Malicious npm Packages Aim to Target Developers for Source Code Theft

An unknown threat actor is leveraging malicious npm packages to target developers with an aim to steal source code and configuration files from victim machines, a sign of how threats lurk consistently in open-source repositories. "The threat actor behind this campaign has been linked to malicious activity dating back to 2021," software supply chain security firm Checkmarx said in a report shared

CISOs Tout SaaS Cybersecurity Confidence, But 79% Admit to SaaS Incidents, New Report Finds

A new State of SaaS Security Posture Management Report from SaaS cybersecurity provider AppOmni indicates that Cybersecurity, IT, and business leaders alike recognize SaaS cybersecurity as an increasingly important part of the cyber threat landscape. And at first glance, respondents appear generally optimistic about their SaaS cybersecurity. Over 600 IT, cybersecurity, and business leaders at

A Penetration Testing Buyer's Guide for IT Security Teams

The frequency and complexity of cyber threats are constantly evolving. At the same time, organizations are now collecting sensitive data that, if compromised, could result in severe financial and reputational damage. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $8 trillion in 2023 and will grow to $10.5 trillion by 2025. There is also increasing public and

What is Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)?

Data Security Posture Management is an approach to securing cloud data by ensuring that sensitive data always has the correct security posture - regardless of where it's been duplicated or moved to. So, what is DSPM? Here's a quick example: Let's say you've built an excellent security posture for your cloud data. For the sake of this example, your data is in production, it's protected behind a

Researchers Expose Space Pirates' Cyber Campaign Across Russia and Serbia

The threat actor known as Space Pirates has been linked to attacks against at least 16 organizations in Russia and Serbia over the past year by employing novel tactics and adding new cyber weapons to its arsenal. "The cybercriminals' main goals are still espionage and theft of confidential information, but the group has expanded its interests and the geography of its attacks," Positive

How Pen Testing can Soften the Blow on Rising Costs of Cyber Insurance

As technology advances and organizations become more reliant on data, the risks associated with data breaches and cyber-attacks also increase. The introduction of data privacy laws, such as the GDPR, has made it mandatory for organizations to disclose breaches of personal data to those affected. As such, it has become essential for businesses to protect themselves from the financial and

New Ongoing Campaign Targets npm Ecosystem with Unique Execution Chain

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new ongoing campaign aimed at the npm ecosystem that leverages a unique execution chain to deliver an unknown payload to targeted systems. "The packages in question seem to be published in pairs, each pair working in unison to fetch additional resources which are subsequently decoded and/or executed," software supply chain security firm Phylum said in

SaaS in the Real World: How Global Food Chains Can Secure Their Digital Dish

The Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) industry is built on consistency and shared resources. National chains like McDonald's and regional ones like Cracker Barrel grow faster by reusing the same business model, decor, and menu, with little change from one location to the next.  QSR technology stacks mirror the consistency of the front end of each store. Despite each franchise being independently

Malicious PyPI Packages Using Compiled Python Code to Bypass Detection

Researchers have discovered a novel attack on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that employs compiled Python code to sidestep detection by application security tools. "It may be the first supply chain attack to take advantage of the fact that Python bytecode (PYC) files can be directly executed," ReversingLabs analyst Karlo Zanki said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The package

3 Challenges in Building a Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) Program and How to Beat Them

If you're a cybersecurity professional, you're likely familiar with the sea of acronyms our industry is obsessed with. From CNAPP, to CWPP, to CIEM and all of the myriad others, there seems to be a new initialism born each day. In this article, we'll look at another trending acronym – CTEM, which stands for Continuous Threat Exposure Management – and the often-surprising challenges that come

Why Telecoms Struggle with SaaS Security

The telecom industry has always been a tantalizing target for cybercriminals. The combination of interconnected networks, customer data, and sensitive information allows cybercriminals to inflict maximum damage through minimal effort. It’s the breaches in telecom companies that tend to have a seismic impact and far-reaching implications — in addition to reputational damage, which can be

Vietnamese Threat Actor Infects 500,000 Devices Using 'Malverposting' Tactics

A Vietnamese threat actor has been attributed as behind a "malverposting" campaign on social media platforms to infect over 500,000 devices worldwide over the past three months to deliver variants of information stealers such as S1deload Stealer and SYS01stealer. Malverposting refers to the use of promoted social media posts on services like Facebook and Twitter to mass propagate malicious

Two Critical Flaws Found in Alibaba Cloud's PostgreSQL Databases

A chain of two critical flaws has been disclosed in Alibaba Cloud's ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL and AnalyticDB for PostgreSQL that could be exploited to breach tenant isolation protections and access sensitive data belonging to other customers. "The vulnerabilities potentially allowed unauthorized access to Alibaba Cloud customers' PostgreSQL databases and the ability to perform a supply chain

Uncovering (and Understanding) the Hidden Risks of SaaS Apps

Recent data breaches across CircleCI, LastPass, and Okta underscore a common theme: The enterprise SaaS stacks connected to these industry-leading apps can be at serious risk for compromise. CircleCI, for example, plays an integral, SaaS-to-SaaS role for SaaS app development. Similarly, tens of thousands of organizations rely on Okta and LastPass security roles for SaaS identity and access

Cryptocurrency Stealer Malware Distributed via 13 NuGet Packages

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the inner workings of the cryptocurrency stealer malware that was distributed via 13 malicious NuGet packages as part of a supply chain attack targeting .NET developers. The sophisticated typosquatting campaign, which was uncovered by JFrog late last month, impersonated legitimate packages to execute PowerShell code designed to retrieve a follow-on binary

Malicious Python Package Uses Unicode Trickery to Evade Detection and Steal Data

A malicious Python package on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository has been found to use Unicode as a trick to evade detection and deploy an info-stealing malware. The package in question, named onyxproxy, was uploaded to PyPI on March 15, 2023, and comes with capabilities to harvest and exfiltrate credentials and other valuable data. It has since been taken down, but not before attracting

Rogue NuGet Packages Infect .NET Developers with Crypto-Stealing Malware

The NuGet repository is the target of a new "sophisticated and highly-malicious attack" aiming to infect .NET developer systems with cryptocurrency stealer malware. The 13 rogue packages, which were downloaded more than 160,000 times over the past month, have since been taken down. "The packages contained a PowerShell script that would execute upon installation and trigger a download of a '

The Different Methods and Stages of Penetration Testing

The stakes could not be higher for cyber defenders. With the vast amounts of sensitive information, intellectual property, and financial data at risk, the consequences of a data breach can be devastating. According to a report released by Ponemon institute, the cost of data breaches has reached an all-time high, averaging $4.35 million in 2022. Vulnerabilities in web applications are often the

GoBruteforcer: New Golang-Based Malware Breaches Web Servers via Brute-Force Attacks

A new Golang-based malware dubbed GoBruteforcer has been found targeting web servers running phpMyAdmin, MySQL, FTP, and Postgres to corral the devices into a botnet. "GoBruteforcer chose a Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) block for scanning the network during the attack, and it targeted all IP addresses within that CIDR range," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers said. "The threat actor

Does Your Help Desk Know Who's Calling?

Phishing, the theft of users' credentials or sensitive data using social engineering, has been a significant threat since the early days of the internet – and continues to plague organizations today, accounting for more than 30% of all known breaches. And with the mass migration to remote working during the pandemic, hackers have ramped up their efforts to steal login credentials as they take

How to Tackle the Top SaaS Challenges of 2023

Are you prepared to tackle the top SaaS challenges of 2023? With high-profile data breaches affecting major companies like Nissan and Slack, it's clear that SaaS apps are a prime target for cyberattacks. The vast amounts of valuable information stored in these apps make them a goldmine for hackers. But don't panic just yet. With the right knowledge and tools, you can protect your company's

Python Developers Warned of Trojanized PyPI Packages Mimicking Popular Libraries

Cybersecurity researchers are warning of "imposter packages" mimicking popular libraries available on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository. The 41 malicious PyPI packages have been found to pose as typosquatted variants of legitimate modules such as HTTP, AIOHTTP, requests, urllib, and urllib3. The names of the packages are as follows: aio5, aio6, htps1, httiop, httops, httplat, httpscolor

Python Developers Beware: Clipper Malware Found in 450+ PyPI Packages!

Malicious actors have published more than 451 unique Python packages on the official Python Package Index (PyPI) repository in an attempt to infect developer systems with clipper malware. Software supply chain security company Phylum, which spotted the libraries, said the ongoing activity is a follow-up to a campaign that was initially disclosed in November 2022. The initial vector entails using

Prilex PoS Malware Evolves to Block Contactless Payments to Steal from NFC Cards

The Brazilian threat actors behind an advanced and modular point-of-sale (PoS) malware known as Prilex have reared their head once again with new updates that allow it to block contactless payment transactions. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said it detected three versions of Prilex (06.03.8080, 06.03.8072, and 06.03.8070) that are capable of targeting NFC-enabled credit cards, taking its

Is Once-Yearly Pen Testing Enough for Your Organization?

Any organization that handles sensitive data must be diligent in its security efforts, which include regular pen testing. Even a small data breach can result in significant damage to an organization's reputation and bottom line. There are two main reasons why regular pen testing is necessary for secure web application development: Security: Web applications are constantly evolving, and new

Kinsing Crypto Malware Hits Kubernetes Clusters via Misconfigured PostgreSQL

The threat actors behind the Kinsing cryptojacking operation have been spotted exploiting misconfigured and exposed PostgreSQL servers to obtain initial access to Kubernetes environments. A second initial access vector technique entails the use of vulnerable images, Sunders Bruskin, security researcher at Microsoft Defender for Cloud, said in a report last week. Kinsing has a storied history of

Malware Strains Targeting Python and JavaScript Developers Through Official Repositories

An active malware campaign is targeting the Python Package Index (PyPI) and npm repositories for Python and JavaScript with typosquatted and fake modules that deploy a ransomware strain, marking the latest security issue to affect software supply chains. The typosquatted Python packages all impersonate the popular requests library: dequests, fequests, gequests, rdquests, reauests, reduests,

Researchers Disclose Supply-Chain Flaw Affecting IBM Cloud Databases for PostgreSQL

IBM has fixed a high-severity security vulnerability affecting its Cloud Databases (ICD) for PostgreSQL product that could be potentially exploited to tamper with internal repositories and run unauthorized code. The privilege escalation flaw (CVSS score: 8.8), dubbed "Hell's Keychain" by cloud security firm Wiz, has been described as a "first-of-its-kind supply-chain attack vector impacting a

Researchers Uncover PyPI Package Hiding Malicious Code Behind Image File

A malicious package discovered on the Python Package Index (PyPI) has been found employing a steganographic trick to conceal malicious code within image files. The package in question, named "apicolor," was uploaded to the Python third-party repository on October 31, 2022, and described as a "Core lib for REST API," according to Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point. It has since been taken

New Timing Attack Against NPM Registry API Could Expose Private Packages

A novel timing attack discovered against the npm's registry API can be exploited to potentially disclose private packages used by organizations, putting developers at risk of supply chain threats. "By creating a list of possible package names, threat actors can detect organizations' scoped private packages and then masquerade public packages, tricking employees and users into downloading them,"

LofyGang Distributed ~200 Malicious NPM Packages to Steal Credit Card Data

Multiple campaigns that distributed trojanized and typosquatted packages on the NPM open source repository have been identified as the work of a single threat actor dubbed LofyGang. Checkmarx said it discovered 199 rogue packages totaling thousands of installations, with the group operating for over a year with the goal of stealing credit card data as well as user accounts associated with

Brazilian Prilex Hackers Resurfaced With Sophisticated Point-of-Sale Malware

A Brazilian threat actor known as Prilex has resurfaced after a year-long operational hiatus with an advanced and complex malware to steal money by means of fraudulent transactions. "The Prilex group has shown a high level of knowledge about credit and debit card transactions, and how software used for payment processing works," Kaspersky researchers said. "This enables the attackers to keep

Malicious NPM Package Caught Mimicking Material Tailwind CSS Package

A malicious NPM package has been found masquerading as the legitimate software library for Material Tailwind, once again indicating attempts on the part of threat actors to distribute malicious code in open source software repositories. Material Tailwind is a CSS-based framework advertised by its maintainers as an "easy to use components library for Tailwind CSS and Material Design." "The

JuiceLedger Hackers Behind the Recent Phishing Attacks Against PyPI Users

More details have emerged about the operators behind the first-known phishing campaign specifically aimed at the Python Package Index (PyPI), the official third-party software repository for the programming language. Connecting it to a threat actor tracked as JuiceLedger, cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, along with Checkmarx, described the group as a relatively new entity that surfaced in early

Warning: PyPI Feature Executes Code Automatically After Python Package Download

In another finding that could expose developers to increased risk of a supply chain attack, it has emerged that nearly one-third of the packages in PyPI, the Python Package Index, trigger automatic code execution upon downloading them. "A worrying feature in pip/PyPI allows code to automatically run when developers are merely downloading a package," Checkmarx researcher Yehuda Gelb said in a

PyPI Repository Warns Python Project Maintainers About Ongoing Phishing Attacks

The Python Package Index, PyPI, on Wednesday sounded the alarm about an ongoing phishing campaign that aims to steal developer credentials and inject malicious updates to legitimate packages. "This is the first known phishing attack against PyPI," the maintainers of the official third-party software repository said in a series of tweets. The social engineering attack entails sending

10 Credential Stealing Python Libraries Found on PyPI Repository

In what's yet another instance of malicious packages creeping into public code repositories, 10 modules have been removed from the Python Package Index (PyPI) for their ability to harvest critical data points such as passwords and API tokens. The packages "install info-stealers that enable attackers to steal developer's private data and personal credentials," Israeli cybersecurity firm Check