Feross Aboukhadijeh

Coffee with Developers with Feross Aboukhadijeh of Socket about the xz backdoor

A malicious actor gained trust over years to inject a backdoor into a core utility. The xz attack reveals a critical, deep-rooted flaw in open source security.

Coffee with Developers with Feross Aboukhadijeh of Socket about the xz backdoor
#1about 5 minutes

How the xz backdoor exploited maintainer burnout

The xz attack highlights how maintainer burnout creates opportunities for malicious actors to gain trust and take over critical open source projects.

#2about 4 minutes

A historical parallel with the event-stream NPM hack

The 2017 event-stream hack demonstrates a similar pattern of social engineering and highlights how lucky discoveries often expose these backdoors.

#3about 9 minutes

The growing problem of dependency bloat and rot

Modern package managers encourage massive dependency trees, which often include outdated or unnecessary packages that increase the attack surface.

#4about 10 minutes

Detecting protestware and other malicious behaviors

Automated tooling is essential for detecting malicious code like protestware by analyzing package behavior for suspicious activities like file deletion or network access.

#5about 4 minutes

The critical trade-offs of auto-updating dependencies

While updating dependencies protects against known vulnerabilities, updating too quickly can expose you to new, undiscovered supply chain attacks before the community finds them.

#6about 10 minutes

Taking responsibility for your software supply chain

Developers must take responsibility for their dependencies by using lock files, leveraging analysis tools, and understanding that open source transparency aids discovery but doesn't guarantee immediate safety.

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Matching moments

How malicious actors infiltrate open source projects
02:00 MIN

How malicious actors infiltrate open source projects

Reviewing 3rd party library security easily using OpenSSF Scorecard

How developers can become malware distribution vehicles
02:39 MIN

How developers can become malware distribution vehicles

Stranger Danger: Your Java Attack Surface Just Got Bigger

Developers as an unintentional malware distribution vehicle
03:36 MIN

Developers as an unintentional malware distribution vehicle

Walking into the era of Supply Chain Risks

How attackers exploit developers and packages
05:43 MIN

How attackers exploit developers and packages

Vue3 practical development

Human factors in open source supply chain risk
06:09 MIN

Human factors in open source supply chain risk

Stranger Danger: Your Java Attack Surface Just Got Bigger

Common attacks targeting software developers
05:49 MIN

Common attacks targeting software developers

Vulnerable VS Code extensions are now at your front door

Exploring specific web vulnerabilities and filtering issues
03:17 MIN

Exploring specific web vulnerabilities and filtering issues

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Chrome for Sale? Comet - the upcoming perplexity browser Stealing and leaking

Key takeaways on IDE and developer tool security
02:28 MIN

Key takeaways on IDE and developer tool security

You click, you lose: a practical look at VSCode's security

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