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How to Use Python to Build Secure Blockchain Applications

How to Use Python to Build Secure Blockchain Applications

Jun 27, 2024
Did you know it's now possible to build blockchain applications, known also as decentralized applications (or "dApps" for short) in native Python? Blockchain development has traditionally required learning specialized languages, creating a barrier for many developers… until now. AlgoKit , an all-in-one development toolkit for Algorand, enables developers to build blockchain applications in pure Python. This article will walk you through the benefits of building blockchain applications, why Python is an ideal choice for dApp development, how to set up your blockchain development environment, and how to start building secure blockchain applications in native Python.  Why build blockchain applications?  Blockchain application development goes far beyond creating a decentralized database and peer-to-peer transactions. It unlocks a new level of trust, security, and efficiency for various applications. Guarantee tamper-proof records: Blockchain creates an immutable and transparent ledge
Four Critical Vulnerabilities Expose HPE Aruba Devices to RCE Attacks

Four Critical Vulnerabilities Expose HPE Aruba Devices to RCE Attacks

May 03, 2024 Vulnerability / Software Security
HPE Aruba Networking (formerly Aruba Networks) has released security updates to address critical flaws impacting ArubaOS that could result in remote code execution (RCE) on affected systems. Of the  10 security defects , four are rated critical in severity - CVE-2024-26304  (CVSS score: 9.8) - Unauthenticated Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in the L2/L3 Management Service Accessed via the PAPI Protocol CVE-2024-26305  (CVSS score: 9.8) - Unauthenticated Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in the Utility Daemon Accessed via the PAPI Protocol CVE-2024-33511  (CVSS score: 9.8) - Unauthenticated Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in the Automatic Reporting Service Accessed via the PAPI Protocol CVE-2024-33512  (CVSS score: 9.8) - Unauthenticated Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in the Local User Authentication Database Accessed via the PAPI Protocol A threat actor could exploit the aforementioned buffer overflow bugs by sending specially crafted packets destined to the Process Application P
The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

Oct 03, 2024Enterprise Security / Cloud Security
For years, securing a company's systems was synonymous with securing its "perimeter." There was what was safe "inside" and the unsafe outside world. We built sturdy firewalls and deployed sophisticated detection systems, confident that keeping the barbarians outside the walls kept our data and systems safe. The problem is that we no longer operate within the confines of physical on-prem installations and controlled networks. Data and applications now reside in distributed cloud environments and data centers, accessed by users and devices connecting from anywhere on the planet. The walls have crumbled, and the perimeter has dissolved, opening the door to a new battlefield: identity . Identity is at the center of what the industry has praised as the new gold standard of enterprise security: "zero trust." In this paradigm, explicit trust becomes mandatory for any interactions between systems, and no implicit trust shall subsist. Every access request, regardless of its origin,
New Coyote Trojan Targets 61 Brazilian Banks with Nim-Powered Attack

New Coyote Trojan Targets 61 Brazilian Banks with Nim-Powered Attack

Feb 09, 2024 Endpoint Security / Cryptocurrency
Sixty-one banking institutions, all of them originating from Brazil, are the target of a new banking trojan called  Coyote . "This malware utilizes the Squirrel installer for distribution, leveraging Node.js and a relatively new multi-platform programming language called Nim as a loader to complete its infection," Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky  said  in a Thursday report. What makes Coyote a different breed from  other banking trojans  of its kind is the use of the open-source  Squirrel framework  for installing and updating Windows apps. Another notable departure is the shift from Delphi – which is prevalent among banking malware families targeting Latin America – to an uncommon programming language like Nim. In the attack chain documented by Kaspersky, a Squirrel installer executable is used as a launchpad for a Node.js application compiled with Electron, which, in turn, runs a Nim-based loader to trigger the execution of the malicious Coyote payload by means of
cyber security

The State of SaaS Security 2024 Report

websiteAppOmniSaaS Security / Data Security
Learn the latest SaaS security trends and discover how to boost your cyber resilience. Get your free…
New Python URL Parsing Flaw Could Enable Command Execution Attacks

New Python URL Parsing Flaw Could Enable Command Execution Attacks

Aug 12, 2023 Programming / Vulnerability
A high-severity security flaw has been disclosed in the Python URL parsing function that could be exploited to bypass domain or protocol filtering methods implemented with a blocklist, ultimately resulting in arbitrary file reads and command execution. "urlparse has a parsing problem when the entire URL starts with blank characters," the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) said in a Friday advisory. "This problem affects both the parsing of hostname and scheme, and eventually causes any blocklisting methods to fail." The flaw has been assigned the identifier  CVE-2023-24329  and carries a CVSS score of 7.5. Security researcher Yebo Cao has been credited with discovering and reporting the issue in August 2022. It has been addressed in the following versions - >= 3.12 3.11.x >= 3.11.4 3.10.x >= 3.10.12 3.9.x >= 3.9.17 3.8.x >= 3.8.17, and  3.7.x >= 3.7.17 urllib.parse  is a widely used parsing function that makes it possible to break dow
PyPI Repository Under Attack: User Sign-Ups and Package Uploads Temporarily Halted

PyPI Repository Under Attack: User Sign-Ups and Package Uploads Temporarily Halted

May 21, 2023 Software Security / Malware
The maintainers of Python Package Index (PyPI), the official third-party software repository for the Python programming language, have temporarily disabled the ability for users to sign up and upload new packages until further notice. "The volume of malicious users and malicious projects being created on the index in the past week has outpaced our ability to respond to it in a timely fashion, especially with multiple PyPI administrators on leave," the admins  said  in a notice published on May 20, 2023. No additional details about the nature of the malware and the threat actors involved in publishing those rogue packages to PyPI were disclosed. The decision to freeze new user and project registrations comes as software registries such as PyPI have proven time and time again to be a popular target for attackers looking to poison the software supply chain and compromise developer environments. Earlier this week, Israeli cybersecurity startup Phylum  uncovered  an active m
Researchers Hijack Popular NPM Package with Millions of Downloads

Researchers Hijack Popular NPM Package with Millions of Downloads

Feb 16, 2023 Supply Chain / Software Security
A popular npm package with more than 3.5 million weekly downloads has been found vulnerable to an account takeover attack. "The package can be taken over by recovering an expired domain name for one of its maintainers and resetting the password," software supply chain security company Illustria  said  in a report. While npm's security protections limit users to have only one active email address per account, the Israeli firm said it was able to reset the GitHub password using the recovered domain. The attack, in a nutshell, grants a threat actor access to the package's associated GitHub account, effectively making it possible to publish trojanized versions to the npm registry that can be weaponized to conduct supply chain attacks at scale. This is achieved by taking advantage of a GitHub Action that's configured in the repository to automatically publish the packages when new code changes are pushed. "Even though the maintainer's npm user account i
Hackers Can Abuse Visual Studio Marketplace to Target Developers with Malicious Extensions

Hackers Can Abuse Visual Studio Marketplace to Target Developers with Malicious Extensions

Jan 09, 2023 Supply Chain / CodeSec
A new attack vector targeting the Visual Studio Code extensions marketplace could be leveraged to upload rogue extensions masquerading as their legitimate counterparts with the goal of mounting supply chain attacks. The technique "could act as an entry point for an attack on many organizations," Aqua security researcher Ilay Goldman  said  in a report published last week. VS Code extensions, curated via a  marketplace  made available by Microsoft, allow developers to add programming languages, debuggers, and tools to the VS Code source-code editor to augment their workflows.  "All extensions run with the privileges of the user that has opened the VS Code without any sandbox," Goldman said, explaining the potential risks of using VS Code extensions. "This means that the extension can install any program on your computer including ransomwares, wipers, and more." To that end, Aqua found that not only is it possible for a threat actor to impersonate a po
RubyGems Makes Multi-Factor Authentication Mandatory for Top Package Maintainers

RubyGems Makes Multi-Factor Authentication Mandatory for Top Package Maintainers

Aug 17, 2022
RubyGems, the official package manager for the Ruby programming language, has become the latest platform to mandate multi-factor authentication (MFA) for popular package maintainers, following the footsteps of  NPM  and  PyPI . To that end, owners of gems with over 180 million total downloads are mandated to turn on MFA effective August 15, 2022. "Users in this category who do not have MFA enabled on the UI and API or UI and gem sign-in level will not be able to edit their profile on the web, perform privileged actions (i.e. push and yank gems, or add and remove gem owners), or sign in on the command line until they configure MFA," RubyGems  noted . What's more, gem maintainers who cross 165 million cumulative downloads are expected to receive reminders to turn on MFA until the download count touches the 180 million thresholds, at which point it will be made mandatory. The development is seen as an attempt by package ecosystems to  bolster the software supply chain
Two Key Ways Development Teams Can Increase Their Security Maturity

Two Key Ways Development Teams Can Increase Their Security Maturity

Aug 01, 2022
Now more than ever, organizations need to enable their development teams to build and grow their security skills. Today organizations face a threat landscape where individuals, well-financed syndicates, and state actors are actively trying to exploit errors in software. Yet, according to recent global research, 67% of developers that were interviewed said they were still shipping code they knew contained vulnerabilities.  Helping your development teams progress to achieve security maturity is possible, and ultimately beneficial. It will help ensure secure software development at every stage of the software development lifecycle. But how can you help your development teams reach security maturity? We dug deep and leveraged insights from over 400 of our customers to identify traits and behaviors that occur when a development team increases its security maturity. Here we share two of them: #1: A deep understanding of your gaps Before creating any maturity program, we first need to u
An Easier Way to Keep Old Python Code Healthy and Secure

An Easier Way to Keep Old Python Code Healthy and Secure

Jul 22, 2022
Python has its pros and cons, but it's nonetheless used extensively. For example, Python is frequently used in data crunching tasks even when there are more appropriate languages to choose from. Why? Well, Python is relatively easy to learn. Someone with a science background can pick up Python much more quickly than, say, C. However, Python's inherent approachability also creates a couple of problems. Whenever Python is updated, it means a big refactoring workload, which often gets dealt with poorly – or not at all. That leads to poor performance and security vulnerabilities. But maybe there is a better way: a tool to keep your Python tasks running smoothly and securely day in, day out. Let's take a look. It's slow, but it does the job Python isn't the fastest language around, but despite its comparative disadvantages, you'll often see it used for intensive data crunching operations. Think machine learning, computer vision, or even pure math in high-perform
Why Developers Hate Changing Language Versions

Why Developers Hate Changing Language Versions

Jul 08, 2022
Progress powers technology forward. But progress also has a cost: by adding new capabilities and features, the developer community is constantly adjusting the building blocks. That includes the fundamental languages used to code technology solutions. When the building blocks change, the code behind the technology solution must change too. It's a challenging and time-consuming exercise that drains resources. But what if there's an alternative? The problem: reading code someone else wrote Let's take a step back and take a look at one of the fundamental challenges in development: editing someone else's code. Editing code you just wrote, or wrote a couple of weeks ago, is just fine. But editing your own code written years ago – never mind someone else's code - that's a different story. In-house code style rules can help but there are always odd naming conventions for variables and functions, or unusual choices for algorithms. Arguably, a programmer's abilit
Get Lifetime Access to This 60-Hour Java Programming Training Bundle @ 97% Discount

Get Lifetime Access to This 60-Hour Java Programming Training Bundle @ 97% Discount

Apr 16, 2022
Java  is a very versatile programming language. From Android apps to Oracle databases, it can be used to power a wide range of software and systems. As with most  technical skills , the best way to learn Java is through building your own projects. But you can definitely speed things up with high-quality training. The Complete 2022 Java Coder Bundle  provides plenty of that — nine full-length video courses, in fact. The training comes from top-rated instructors, and you get plenty of hands-on projects to try. The included training is worth $1,791. But in a special deal for loyal readers of The Hacker News, you can pick up the bundle for just $39.99.  Special Offer — For a limited time, you can get unlimited lifetime access to over 60 hours of Java training for  just $39.99 . That's an unmissable deal! According to Indeed, the average salary for a Java developer in the US is around $115,000 a year. But even if you don't plan on becoming a specialist, learning Java is a smart move. T
BlackCat: A New Rust-based Ransomware Malware Spotted in the Wild

BlackCat: A New Rust-based Ransomware Malware Spotted in the Wild

Dec 10, 2021
Details have emerged about what's the first Rust-language-based ransomware strain spotted in the wild that has already amassed "some victims from different countries" since its launch last month. The ransomware, dubbed  BlackCat , was  disclosed  by MalwareHunterTeam. "Victims can pay with Bitcoin or Monero," the researchers said in a series of tweets detailing the file-encrypting malware. "Also looks they are giving credentials to intermediaries" for negotiations. BlackCat, akin to many other variants that have sprung before it, operates as a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), wherein the core developers recruit affiliates to breach corporate environments and encrypt files, but not before stealing the said documents in a double extortion scheme to pressure the targets into paying the requested amount or risk exposure of the stolen data should the companies refuse to pay up. Security researcher Michael Gillespie  called  it a "very sophisticated
Shifting the focus from reactive to proactive, with human-led secure coding

Shifting the focus from reactive to proactive, with human-led secure coding

Jun 07, 2021
The same 10 software vulnerabilities have caused more security breaches in the last 20+ years than any others. And yet, many businesses still opt for post-breach, post-event remediation, muddling through the human and business ramifications of it all. But now,  a new research study  points to a new, human-led direction. ‍ The following discusses insights derived from a study conducted by Secure Code Warrior with Evans Data Corp titled 'Shifting from reaction to prevention: The changing face of application security' (2021) exploring developers attitudes towards secure coding, secure code practices, and security operations.  Read the report. ‍‍In the study, developers and development managers were asked about their common secure coding practices. The top three methods highlighted were: Scanning applications for irregularities or vulnerabilities after they are deployed Scrutinizing write code to inspect for irregularities or vulnerabilities The reuse of pre-approved code t
Android to Support Rust Programming Language to Prevent Memory Flaws

Android to Support Rust Programming Language to Prevent Memory Flaws

Apr 07, 2021
Google on Tuesday announced that its open source version of the Android operating system will add support for Rust programming language in a bid to prevent memory safety bugs. To that end, the company has been building parts of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with Rust for the past 18 months, with plans in the pipeline to scale this initiative to cover more aspects of the operating system. "Managed languages like Java and Kotlin are the best option for Android app development," Google  said . "The Android OS uses Java extensively, effectively protecting large portions of the Android platform from memory bugs. Unfortunately, for the lower layers of the OS, Java and Kotlin are not an option." Stating that code written in C and C++ languages requires robust isolation when parsing untrustworthy input, Google said the technique of containing such code within a tightly constrained and unprivileged sandbox can be expensive, causing latency issues and additional
Researchers Spotted Malware Written in Nim Programming Language

Researchers Spotted Malware Written in Nim Programming Language

Mar 12, 2021
Cybersecurity researchers have unwrapped an "interesting email campaign" undertaken by a threat actor that has taken to distributing a new malware written in  Nim  programming language. Dubbed " NimzaLoader " by Proofpoint researchers, the development marks one of the rare instances of Nim malware discovered in the threat landscape. "Malware developers may choose to use a rare programming language to avoid detection, as reverse engineers may not be familiar with Nim's implementation, or focused on developing detection for it, and therefore tools and sandboxes may struggle to analyze samples of it," the researchers said. Proofpoint is tracking the operators of the campaign under the moniker "TA800," who, they say, started distributing NimzaLoader starting February 3, 2021. Prior to the latest raft of activity, TA800 is known to have predominantly used BazaLoader since April 2020. While APT28 has been previously linked to delivering  Zeb
5 Reasons Why Programmers Should Think like Hackers

5 Reasons Why Programmers Should Think like Hackers

Dec 16, 2019
Programming has five main steps: the identification and definition of the problem, the planning of the solution for the problem, coding of the program, testing, and documentation. It's a meticulous process that cannot be completed without going through all the essential points. In all of these, security must be taken into account. As you come up with a solution to the problem and write the code for it, you need to make sure security is kept intact. Cyber attacks are becoming more and more prevalent, and the trend is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. As individuals, businesses, organizations, and governments become more reliant on technology, cybercrime is expected to only grow. Most of what people do in contemporary society involves the internet, computers, and apps/software. It's only logical for programmers to be mindful of the security aspect of making applications or software. It's not enough for programmers to produce something that works. After
Suspected Kelihos Botnet Operator Arrested in Spain

Suspected Kelihos Botnet Operator Arrested in Spain

Apr 10, 2017
Update (Tuesday, April 11):  The arrest of a Russian man in Spain was apparently for his role in Kelihos botnet responsible for sending hundreds of millions of spam emails worldwide. A Russian computer hacker and alleged spam kingpin was arrested in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday reportedly over suspicion of being involved in hacking attacks linked to alleged interference in last year's United States presidential election process . 36-year-old Peter Yuryevich Levashov  from St. Petersburg was detained by police in Barcelona after US authorities issued an international arrest warrant for his arrest. While the Russian embassy in Madrid announced Levashov's arrest on Sunday, it did not confirm the reason for his arrest. This is the second arrest made by the Spanish authorities since the US 2016 election. In January, the police detained Stanislav Lisov , 32, on suspicion of creating and operating the NeverQuest Banking Trojan and possibly influencing the presidential elec
Microsoft is Shutting Down CodePlex, Asks Devs To Move To GitHub

Microsoft is Shutting Down CodePlex, Asks Devs To Move To GitHub

Apr 03, 2017
Microsoft has announced to shut down CodePlex -- its website for hosting repositories of open-source software projects -- on December 15, 2017. Launched in 2006, CodePlex was one of the Microsoft's biggest steps towards the world of open source community -- where any programmer, anywhere can share the code for their software or download and tweak the code to their liking. However, Microsoft says that the service has dramatically fallen in usage and that fewer than 350 projects seeing a source code commit over the last 30 days, pointing to GitHub as the "de-facto place for open source sharing." GitHub – 'Facebook for Programmers' In a blog post published Friday, Microsoft Corporate VP Brian Harry wrote that the shutdown of CodePlex is because the open source community has almost entirely moved over to GitHub, which provides similar functionality for sharing code that people can collaborate on. "Over the years, we have seen a lot of amazing opti
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