Freelance dev shop Toptal caught serving malware after GitHub account break-in

Developer freelancing platform Toptal has been inadvertently spreading malicious code after attackers broke into its systems and began distributing malware through developer accounts, according to a security researcher, although the company says the attack did not actually affect anybody. Toptal bills itself as an elite …

[SVD_NL]

Amplification factor

I have no idea how Toptal works in particular, I'm assuming these packages are meant to be used by their freelance devs. To me this looks like a fairly creative way to amplify your attack reach. Getting GitHub access tokens from freelance developers has the potential to snowball into access to codebases from various different clients.

Similar to breaching an MSP in a way.

[Kurgan]

Re: Amplification factor

That's how supply chain attacks work. And that's why they are the most rewarding ones; you break into one system, you affect thousands.