Supply Chain Security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Several state-sponsored actors, hacktivist entities, and criminal groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have trained their sights on the defense industrial base (DIB) sector, according to findings from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG). The tech giant's threat intelligence division said the adversarial targeting of the sector is centered around four key themes: striking defense entities deploying technologies on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine War, directly approaching employees and exploitation of the hiring process by North Korean and Iranian actors, use of edge devices and appliances as initial access pathways for China-nexus groups, and supply chain risk stemming from the breach of the manufacturing sector. "Many of the chief state-sponsors of cyber espionage and hacktivist actors have shown an interest in autonomous vehicles and drones, as these platforms play an increasing role in modern warfare," GTIG said . "Further, the 'evasion...

In December 2025, in response to the Sha1-Hulud incident, npm completed a major authentication overhaul intended to reduce supply-chain attacks. While the overhaul is a solid step forward, the changes don’t make npm projects immune from supply-chain attacks. npm is still susceptible to malware attacks – here’s what you need to know for a safer Node community. Let’s start with the original problem Historically, npm relied on classic tokens: long-lived, broadly scoped credentials that could persist indefinitely. If stolen, attackers could directly publish malicious versions to the author’s packages (no publicly verifiable source code needed). This made npm a prime vector for supply-chain attacks. Over time, numerous real-world incidents demonstrated this point. Shai-Hulud, Sha1-Hulud, and chalk/debug are examples of recent, notable attacks. npm’s solution To address this, npm made the following changes: npm revoked all classic tokens and defaulted to session-based tokens instead...

Threat actors have started to exploit a recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting BeyondTrust Remote Support (RS) and Privileged Remote Access (PRA) products, according to watchTowr. "Overnight we observed first in-the-wild exploitation of BeyondTrust across our global sensors," Ryan Dewhurst, head of threat intelligence at watchTowr, said in a post on X. "Attackers are abusing get_portal_info to extract the x-ns-company value before establishing a WebSocket channel." The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-1731 (CVS score: 9.9), which could allow an unauthenticated attacker to achieve remote code execution by sending specially crafted requests. BeyondTrust noted last week that successful exploitation of the shortcoming could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute operating system commands in the context of the site user, resulting in unauthorized access, data exfiltration, and service disruption. It has been patched in the following...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a fresh set of malicious packages across npm and the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository linked to a fake recruitment-themed campaign orchestrated by the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group. The coordinated campaign has been codenamed graphalgo in reference to the first package published in the npm registry. It's assessed to be active since May 2025. "Developers are approached via social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, or through job offerings on forums like Reddit," ReversingLabs researcher Karlo Zanki said in a report. "The campaign includes a well-orchestrated story around a company involved in blockchain and cryptocurrency exchanges." Notably, one of the identified npm packages, bigmathutils, attracted more than 10,000 downloads after the first, non-malicious version was published, and before the second version containing a malicious payload was released. The names of the packages are listed below - npm...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered what they said is the first known malicious Microsoft Outlook add-in detected in the wild. In this unusual supply chain attack detailed by Koi Security, an unknown attacker claimed the domain associated with a now-abandoned legitimate add-in to serve a fake Microsoft login page, stealing over 4,000 credentials in the process. The activity has been codenamed AgreeToSteal by the cybersecurity company. The Outlook add-in in question is AgreeTo , which is advertised by its developer as a way for users to connect different calendars in a single place and share their availability through email. The add-in was last updated in December 2022. Idan Dardikman, co-founder and CTO of Koi, told The Hacker News that the incident represents a broadening of supply chain attack vectors. "This is the same class of attack we've seen in browser extensions, npm packages, and IDE plugins: a trusted distribution channel where the content can change aft...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new supply chain attack in which legitimate packages on npm and the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository have been compromised to push malicious versions to facilitate wallet credential theft and remote code execution. The compromised versions of the two packages are listed below - @dydxprotocol/v4-client-js (npm) - 3.4.1, 1.22.1, 1.15.2, 1.0.31  dydx-v4-client (PyPI) - 1.1.5post1 "The @dydxprotocol/v4-client-js (npm) and dydx-v4-client (PyPI) packages provide developers with tools to interact with the dYdX v4 protocol, including transaction signing, order placement, and wallet management," Socket security researcher Kush Pandya noted. "Applications using these packages handle sensitive cryptocurrency operations." dYdX is a non-custodial, decentralized cryptocurrency exchange for trading margin and perpetual swaps, while allowing users to retain full control over their assets. On its website, the DeFi exchang...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a now-patched security flaw impacting Ask Gordon , an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant built into Docker Desktop and the Docker Command-Line Interface (CLI), that could be exploited to execute code and exfiltrate sensitive data. The critical vulnerability has been codenamed DockerDash by cybersecurity company Noma Labs. It was addressed by Docker with the release of version 4.50.0 in November 2025. "In DockerDash, a single malicious metadata label in a Docker image can be used to compromise your Docker environment through a simple three-stage attack: Gordon AI reads and interprets the malicious instruction, forwards it to the MCP [Model Context Protocol] Gateway, which then executes it through MCP tools," Sasi Levi, security research lead at Noma, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Every stage happens with zero validation, taking advantage of current agents and MCP Gateway architecture." ...

A security audit of 2,857 skills on ClawHub has found 341 malicious skills across multiple campaigns, according to new findings from Koi Security, exposing users to new supply chain risks. ClawHub is a marketplace designed to make it easy for OpenClaw users to find and install third-party skills. It's an extension to the OpenClaw project, a self-hosted artificial intelligence (AI) assistant formerly known as both Clawdbot and Moltbot. The analysis, which Koi conducted with the help of an OpenClaw bot named Alex, found that 335 skills use fake pre-requisites to install an Apple macOS stealer named Atomic Stealer (AMOS). This activity set has been codenamed ClawHavoc . "You install what looks like a legitimate skill – maybe solana-wallet-tracker or youtube-summarize-pro," Koi researcher Oren Yomtov said. "The skill's documentation looks professional. But there's a 'Prerequisites' section that says you need to install something first." This...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a supply chain attack targeting the Open VSX Registry in which unidentified threat actors compromised a legitimate developer's resources to push malicious updates to downstream users. "On January 30, 2026, four established Open VSX extensions published by the oorzc author had malicious versions published to Open VSX that embed the GlassWorm malware loader," Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko said in a Saturday report. "These extensions had previously been presented as legitimate developer utilities (some first published more than two years ago) and collectively accumulated over 22,000 Open VSX downloads prior to the malicious releases." The supply chain security company said that the supply chain attack involved the compromise of the developer's publishing credentials, with the Open VSX security team assessing the incident as involving the use of either a leaked token or other unauthorized ...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two malicious packages in the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that masquerade as spellcheckers but contain functionality to deliver a remote access trojan (RAT). The packages, named spellcheckerpy and spellcheckpy , are no longer available on PyPI, but not before they were collectively downloaded a little over 1,000 times. "Hidden inside the Basque language dictionary file was a base64-encoded payload that downloads a full-featured Python RAT," Aikido researcher Charlie Eriksen said . "The attacker published three 'dormant' versions first, payload present, trigger absent, then flipped the switch with spellcheckpy v1.2.0, adding an obfuscated execution trigger that fires the moment you import SpellChecker." Unlike other packages that conceal the malicious functionality within "__init__.py" scripts, the threat actor behind the campaign has been found to add the payload inside a file named "re...

AI agents are accelerating how work gets done. They schedule meetings, access data, trigger workflows, write code, and take action in real time, pushing productivity beyond human speed across the enterprise. Then comes the moment every security team eventually hits: “Wait… who approved this?” Unlike users or applications, AI agents are often deployed quickly, shared broadly, and granted wide access permissions, making ownership, approval, and accountability difficult to trace. What was once a straightforward question is now surprisingly hard to answer. AI Agents Break Traditional Access Models AI agents are not just another type of user. They fundamentally differ from both humans and traditional service accounts, and those differences are what break existing access and approval models. Human access is built around clear intent. Permissions are tied to a role, reviewed periodically, and constrained by time and context. Service accounts, while non-human, are typ...

As many as 3,136 individual IP addresses linked to likely targets of the Contagious Interview activity have been identified, with the campaign claiming 20 potential victim organizations spanning artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency, financial services, IT services, marketing, and software development sectors in Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, and Central America. The new findings come from Recorded Future's Insikt Group, which is tracking the North Korean threat activity cluster under the moniker PurpleBravo . First documented in late 2023, the campaign is also known as CL-STA-0240, DeceptiveDevelopment, DEV#POPPER, Famous Chollima, Gwisin Gang, Tenacious Pungsan, UNC5342, Void Dokkaebi, and WaterPlum. The 3,136 individual IP addresses, primarily concentrated around South Asia and North America, are assessed to have been targeted by the adversary from August 2024 to September 2025. The 20 victim companies are said to be based in Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, In...

In cybersecurity, the line between a normal update and a serious incident keeps getting thinner. Systems that once felt reliable are now under pressure from constant change. New AI tools, connected devices, and automated systems quietly create more ways in, often faster than security teams can react. This week’s stories show how easily a small mistake or hidden service can turn into a real break-in. Behind the headlines, the pattern is clear. Automation is being used against the people who built it. Attackers reuse existing systems instead of building new ones. They move faster than most organizations can patch or respond. From quiet code flaws to malware that changes while it runs, attacks are focusing less on speed and more on staying hidden and in control. If you’re protecting anything connected—developer tools, cloud systems, or internal networks—this edition shows where attacks are going next, not where they used to be. ⚡ Threat of the Week Critical Fortinet Flaw Comes Under...

A threat actor likely aligned with China has been observed targeting critical infrastructure sectors in North America since at least last year. Cisco Talos, which is tracking the activity under the name UAT-8837 , assessed it to be a China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT) actor with medium confidence based on tactical overlaps with other campaigns mounted by threat actors from the region. The cybersecurity company noted that the threat actor is "primarily tasked with obtaining initial access to high-value organizations," based on the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and post-compromise activity observed. "After obtaining initial access — either by successful exploitation of vulnerable servers or by using compromised credentials — UAT-8837 predominantly deploys open-source tools to harvest sensitive information such as credentials, security configurations, and domain and Active Directory (AD) information to create multiple channels of access to their v...

Research analyzing 4,700 leading websites reveals that 64% of third-party applications now access sensitive data without business justification, up from 51% in 2024.  Government sector malicious activity spiked from 2% to 12.9%, while 1 in 7 Education sites show active compromise. Specific offenders: Google Tag Manager (8% of violations), Shopify (5%), Facebook Pixel (4%). Download the complete 43-page analysis → TL;DR A critical disconnect emerges in the 2026 research: While 81% of security leaders call web attacks a top priority, only 39% have deployed solutions to stop the bleeding. Last year's research found 51% unjustified access. This year it's 64% — and accelerating into public infrastructure. What is Web Exposure? Gartner coined ‘Web Exposure Management’ to describe security risks from third-party applications: analytics, marketing pixels, CDNs, and payment tools. Each connection expands your attack surface; a single vendor compromise can trigger a massive ...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a previously undocumented and feature-rich malware framework codenamed VoidLink that's specifically designed for long-term, stealthy access to Linux-based cloud environments According to a new report from Check Point Research, the cloud-native Linux malware framework comprises an array of custom loaders, implants, rootkits, and modular plugins that enable its operators to augment or change its capabilities over time, as well as pivot when objectives change. It was first discovered in December 2025. "The framework includes multiple cloud-focused capabilities and modules, and is engineered to operate reliably in cloud and container environments over extended periods," the cybersecurity company said in an analysis published today. "VoidLink's architecture is extremely flexible and highly modular, centered around a custom Plugin API that appears to be inspired by Cobalt Strike’s Beacon Object Files (BOF) appr...

Old Playbook, New Scale: While defenders are chasing trends, attackers are optimizing the basics The security industry loves talking about "new" threats. AI-powered attacks. Quantum-resistant encryption. Zero-trust architectures. But looking around, it seems like the most effective attacks in 2025 are pretty much the same as they were in 2015. Attackers are exploiting the same entry points that worked - they're just doing it better. Supply Chain: Still Cascading Downstream As the Shai Hulud NPM campaign showed us, supply chain remains a major issue. A single compromised package can cascade through an entire dependency tree, affecting thousands of downstream projects. The attack vector hasn't changed. What's changed is how efficiently attackers can identify and exploit opportunities. AI has collapsed the barrier to entry. Just as AI has enabled one-person software projects to build sophisticated applications, the same is true in cybercrime. What used to requi...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned of active exploitation of a high-severity security flaw impacting Gogs by adding it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-8110 (CVSS score: 8.7), relates to a case of path traversal in the repository file editor that could result in code execution. "Gogs Path Traversal Vulnerability: Gogs contains a path traversal vulnerability affecting improper Symbolic link handling in the PutContents API that could allow for code execution," CISA said in an advisory. Details of the shortcoming came to light last month when Wiz said it discovered it being exploited in zero-day attacks. The vulnerability essentially bypasses protections put in place for CVE-2024-55947 to achieve code execution by creating a git repository, committing a symbolic link pointing to a sensitive target, and using the PutContents API to write data to the symlink. This, in t...

This week made one thing clear: small oversights can spiral fast. Tools meant to save time and reduce friction turned into easy entry points once basic safeguards were ignored. Attackers didn’t need novel tricks. They used what was already exposed and moved in without resistance. Scale amplified the damage. A single weak configuration rippled out to millions. A repeatable flaw worked again and again. Phishing crept into apps people rely on daily, while malware blended into routine system behavior. Different victims, same playbook: look normal, move quickly, spread before alarms go off. For defenders, the pressure keeps rising. Vulnerabilities are exploited almost as soon as they surface. Claims and counterclaims appear before the facts settle. Criminal groups adapt faster each cycle. The stories that follow show where things failed—and why those failures matter going forward. ⚡ Threat of the Week Maximum Severity Security Flaw Disclosed in n8n — A maximum-severity vulnerability ...

Popular artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) forks such as Cursor, Windsurf, Google Antigravity, and Trae have been found to recommend extensions that are non-existent in the Open VSX registry, potentially opening the door to supply chain risks when bad actors publish malicious packages under those names. The problem, according to Koi , is that these integrated development environments (IDEs) inherit the list of officially recommended extensions from Microsoft's extensions marketplace. These extensions don't exist in Open VSX. The VS Code extension recommendations can take two different forms: file-based, which are displayed as toast notifications when users open a file in specific formats, or software-based, which are suggested when certain programs are already installed on the host. "The problem: these recommended extensions didn't exist on Open VSX," Koi security researcher Oren Yomtov said. "The namespaces were u...