Security Articles

Minification isn't encryption. Every JavaScript bundle your app ships is readable in seconds — and attackers know it. This post breaks down exactly what they find: hardcoded API keys, internal endpoints, client-side business logic, and exposed source maps. Plus the five controls that make sure none of it leaves your codebase.

Every npm install silently executes lifecycle scripts from every package in your dependency tree — no prompts, no sandboxing, with full system access. This post breaks down how post-install scripts work, why they are the most exploited vector in npm supply chain attacks, and the five controls that eliminate the risk.

GlassWorm is a multi-ecosystem supply chain campaign that embeds invisible Unicode-obfuscated payloads in GitHub repositories, npm packages, and VS Code extensions. Its latest evolution uses a Zig-compiled native dropper to spread across developer IDEs, harvesting credentials and enabling autonomous supply chain propagation. This analysis breaks down the infection chain, explains why the IDE is now a Tier-0 attack target, and provides actionable controls for security teams.

On April 7, 2026, a malicious version of the VeloraDEX SDK — the JavaScript library used by DeFi applications to aggregate liquidity across decentralized exchanges — was published to npm. Version 9.4.1 of @velora-dex/sdk contained a three-line payload prepended to the bundled distribution file that silently downloaded and executed a remote bash script from a server in Romania. The malicious code was not present anywhere in the GitHub repository. Only the npm tarball carried the backdoor, and it ran on every import — no install hooks, no postinstall scripts, nothing that conventional security scanners flag. For a package that sits in the dependency tree of DeFi applications handling real money, this is about as dangerous as supply chain attacks get.

I spent the morning of March 31, 2026 pulling apart what turned out to be one of the more carefully orchestrated npm compromises I have seen. Someone hijacked a lead maintainer's account for axios — the HTTP client that 174,000+ packages depend on — and pushed two rogue versions containing a hidden dependency. That dependency carried an obfuscated postinstall script that dropped a cross-platform RAT, phoned home to a command server, then erased every trace of itself from disk. The whole operation ran for about three hours before npm pulled the versions, but three hours is an eternity when you are talking about a package at the foundation of the JavaScript dependency graph.

On March 27, 2026, two malicious versions of the Telnyx Python SDK (4.87.1 and 4.87.2) were uploaded to PyPI using stolen credentials linked to the TeamPCP threat group. The payload used WAV steganography to hide credential-stealing malware inside audio files. PyPI quarantined both versions within six hours, but the package's 742,000+ monthly downloads meant significant exposure.

LiteLLM versions 1.82.7 and 1.82.8 on PyPI were compromised by the TeamPCP threat actor group. The malicious packages stole credentials, deployed persistence via systemd, and performed lateral movement in Kubernetes clusters. The attack propagated from the earlier Trivy supply chain compromise through LiteLLM’s own CI/CD pipeline.

CVE-2026-28353 is a CVSS 10.0 supply chain compromise of the Trivy VS Code Extension on OpenVSX. A stolen GitHub PAT, extracted through a misconfigured pull_request_target workflow, was used to publish tampered extension versions that weaponized local AI coding agents for credential theft and data exfiltration via prompt injection.

From malicious IDE extensions to AI hallucination attacks and self-replicating supply chain worms — the modern development toolchain is under sustained attack. This blog examines the four major vectors and what organisations should do about them.

Shadow AI is spreading faster than shadow IT ever did. Employees are granting AI tools full machine access, pushing sensitive data into models, and nobody is tracking which tools are in use. Here is why AI-BOM and AI asset registers are becoming essential governance infrastructure.

How JavaScript and Mobile Crypto Creates a False Sense of Security — and Quietly Defeats Your WAF

Why vulnerability management alone isn't cutting it anymore and how CTEM gives security leaders a framework to continuously discover, prioritise, and remediate real exposure across sprawling attack surfaces, not just chase CVE counts.