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A well-known npm package deleted files to oppose the situation in Ukraine.

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A well-known npm package deleted files to oppose the situation in Ukraine.

In opposition to the continuing Russo-Ukrainian War, the creator of the well-known npm package “node-ipc” released corrupted versions of the library this month.

On developers’ computers, newer versions of the “node-ipc” programme started overwriting all files, erasing all data, and creating new text files containing “peace” messages.

Node-ipc is a well-known package used by important libraries like Vue.js CLI, with over a million downloads each week.

Protestware: Open source is affected by the continuing conflict in Ukraine
For users based in Russia and Belarus, specific versions (10.1.1 and 10.1.2) of the enormously popular “node-ipc” package were discovered to include malicious code that would overwrite or destroy arbitrary files on a system. These variations are monitored by CVE-2022-23812.

On March 8th, software engineer Brandon Nozaki Miller, alias RIAEvangelist, published two open source software packages on npm and GitHub called peacenotwar and oneday-test.

The fact that the packages primarily send a “message of peace” on the Desktop of any user who instals them suggests that the creator originally developed them as a way of peaceful protest.

According to RIAEvangelist, “This code serves as a non-destructive illustration of why controlling your node modules is vital.”

It also acts as a peaceful protest against Russia’s aggression, which currently threatens the entire world.

Although also maintained by RIAEvangelist, some npm versions of the well-known “node-ipc” library were seen unleashing a harmful payload to erase all data by overwriting files of users installing the package. This caused havoc.

It’s interesting to note that the malicious code, which was launched by the developer as early as March 7th, would read the system’s external IP address and would only overwrite files to remove data for users residing in Russia and Belarus.

To hide its true intent, the code in “node-ipc,” more notably in file “ssl-geospec.js,” uses base64-encoded strings and obfuscation techniques:

According to a condensed version of the code released by the researchers, the code will effectively delete all data on a machine for users located in Russia or Belarus by replacing all file contents with a heart emoji.

Additionally, because the peacenotwar module is included in “node-ipc” versions 9.2.2, 11.0.0, and those higher than 11.0.0, impacted users noticed “WITH-LOVE-FROM-AMERICA.txt” files appearing on their Desktop with “peace” messages:

Snyk, an open source security company, researchers also observed and investigated the malicious activity:

According to Liran Tal, Director of Developer Advocacy at Snyk, “at this point, a very clear abuse and a catastrophic supply chain security incident will occur for any system on which this npm package will be run, if that matches a geo-location of either Russia or Belarus.”

Users of Vue.js are alarmed by a supply chain attack.
The well-known JavaScript front-end framework “Vue.js” also depends on “node-ipc.” However, prior to this incident, “Vue.js” was configured to collect the most recent minor and patch versions rather than pinning the versions of “node-ipc” dependent to a safe version, as is clear from the caret () symbol: As a result, when several users were surprised, they urgently pleaded with the project’s maintainers to pin the “node-ipc” dependent to a safe version.

In addition, not only Vue.js but other open source projects have been harmed by this sabotage, as noted by BleepingComputer.

Other project maintainers are being cautioned by developers Lukas Mertens and Fedor to make sure they are not using a malicious version of “node-ipc”:

Researchers at Snyk believe that ‘node-ipc’ versions 10.1.1 and 10.1.2, which blatantly harm the system, were removed by npm within 24 hours of being published.

But take note that “node-ipc” versions 11.0.0 and higher are still accessible on npm. Additionally, the peacenotwar module that generates the aforementioned “WITH-LOVE-FROM-AMERICA.txt” files on the desktop is still present in these versions.

As a result, if you used the “node-ipc” library to build your application, be sure to pin the dependency to a secure version, like 9.2.1 (it turns out that 9.2.2 isn’t completely safe either).

Community outraged by incident in open source
This is the second significant act of self-sabotage by an open source developer this year, following the BleepingComputer-first reported “colours” and “fakers” episode from January.
The creator of “colours,” Marak Squires, received conflicting responses from the open source community because of his method of protest, which involved damaging countless apps by inserting infinite loops inside of them.

But the action of RIAEvangelist, who manages over 40 packages on npm, has come under fire for going beyond “peaceful protest” and aggressively placing damaging payloads in a well-known library without informing honest users.

A GitHub user described it as “a massive blow” to the open source community’s collective confidence.

“This behaviour is just unacceptable. War is undoubtedly a dreadful thing, but that doesn’t justify certain actions, such as placing weird files in desktop folders and erasing all files for Russia/Belarus users. You’re a f***, go to hell. You just managed to destroy the open-source community. You feeling better, @RIAEvangelist?” another enquired.

Some criticised the “node-ipc” developer for repeatedly altering and removing earlier comments on the forum in an effort to “clean up” his tracks [1, 2, 3].

“Even while some people may view maintainer RIAEvangelist’s purposeful and risky action as a justified form of protest. How does that affect the maintainer’s standing and involvement in the developer community in the future? “Snyk’s Tal queries.

Before including “node-ipc” in their applications, developers should use caution because there is no guarantee that future versions of this library or any other library made available by RIAEvangelist will be secure.

One method of defending your applications against such supply chain attacks is to pin your dependencies to a trustworthy version.

 

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Why 918Kiss is the best live casino after COVID for various reasons

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Why 918Kiss is the best live casino after COVID for various reasons

It is safe to assume that the idea of online gambling was generally successful, especially during the quarantine period when most things weren’t completely successful. The idea of online gambling was around long before the Corona Virus, but it didn’t receive the same amount of attention as gamblers preferred playing in a regular on-land casino.

Even if everything is returning to normal after COVID-19, the idea of online gambling is still prevalent and fashionable in some online casinos. 918Kiss is one of the online gambling sites.

After COVID-19, many other online casinos failed, but 918Kiss built up a loyal player base and is currently the greatest live casino you can choose.

To make things clearer and to help you obtain a vivid perspective of the online casino, we developed a list of elements that make 918Kiss the greatest live casino you can go to after COVID. So without further ado, let’s begin the conversation.

Safe, simple, and practical
The fact that 918Kiss is risk-free, simple to use, and convenient for all players is one of its best features. If you enjoy gambling but are too lazy to visit a conventional land-based casino, 918Kiss is the best choice. The unique feature of 918Kiss is that you may bring the casino to you at home if you are not in the right condition to visit one.

The online casino is made especially for the players so that they can access the internet platform whenever they wish to gamble. You can gamble while at home with 918Kiss because their method is secure.

The nicest thing about 918Kiss is that players may access their games at any time of day, whether it’s first thing in the morning or during peak hours at a conventional on-land casino. Everything is always available to you at 918Kiss.

Players constantly have access to the games, giving them excellent opportunities to receive fantastic prizes. With 918Kiss, all you need is an app, and after the registration process is complete, you can begin gaming.

Secure 918Kiss
The security that 918Kiss has is another reason to select it above any other casino, whether it be online or physical. Players’ privacy and security are highly important to 918Kiss.

When it comes to security at an online casino, they actually have one of the greatest systems. A firewall is provided for all the players playing at the casino; the main purpose is to protect the player’s account from being hacked and keep the players’ identities safe.

Two secure payment channels are among the other outstanding security-related features. These gateways, which include Help2Pay and EeziePay, guarantee that regular transactions are processed promptly and securely.

The staff at 918Kiss is constantly working on adopting top-notch security measures to keep the data secure and confidential, therefore the firewall assures that your account is secured from all kinds of external hacks.

The nicest aspect of these transactions is their seeming smoothness and short processing times—less than 10 minutes at most—for all banks, which the online casino also offers banking options for.

However, the majority of transactions typically only take three minutes or less. The transactions are transparent and kept confidential between the player and the online casino, guaranteeing that everything is done correctly.

Unrivaled customer service
The excellent customer service that 918Kiss provides to its customers is another unique aspect that sets it apart from other online casinos. In a regular on-land casino, your odds of receiving customer service are quite slim, but at 918Kiss, help is available at every turn.

No matter if your question relates to a game or to your bank account, the 918Kiss support service offers all the assistance you require. The group puts through long hours, seven days a week.

While they are fully knowledgeable about the online casino and will help their players as soon as feasible. In this manner, you may rely on customer service for any issue you might experience.

The fact that the 918Kiss customer service team is accessible via live chat, Telegram, and WhatsApp is its best feature. If you have any questions, you may also consult the FAQs.

able to discover new games
Players can experiment with new games, which is one of the best aspects of gaming at 918Kiss. We no longer mean for you to purchase the games before playing; instead, if you want to sample a new game that is offered by 918Kiss, all you need to do is enter the 918Kiss Test ID, and you are ready to start.

Before placing any wagers with your actual money, enter the test ID to access new games. This is useful if you want to experiment with new card and table games that have a variety of options. With no danger or time constraints, you can take your time to learn more about the game, its tactics, and its regulations.

This is something you won’t find in a conventional on-land casino because the games there can only be played for real money and you can’t really learn anything from the games because they are all paid.

Last Words
Overall, there are numerous benefits to using 918Kiss as a gambling site. Make sure you are aware of the stakes and what you are playing for, as putting too much on the line can undoubtedly result in bankruptcy.

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To avoid sanctions, Russia establishes its own TLS certificate authority.

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To avoid sanctions, Russia establishes its own TLS certificate authority.

To avoid sanctions, Russia establishes its own TLS certificate authority.
TLS certificates assist the web browser in verifying that a domain is associated with a recognised organisation and that information being transmitted between the user and the server is encrypted.

The inability of signing authorities situated in nations that have placed sanctions on Russia to accept fees for their services prevents numerous websites from being able to renew their expired certificates.

Web browsers including Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox will display full-page warnings that the pages are vulnerable after a certificate expires, which may cause many users to leave the website.

a national authority
For the independent issuance and renewal of TLS certificates, the Russian government has envisioned a domestic certificate authority as a potential solution.

If the foreign security certificate is revoked or expires, it will be replaced with this one. A complimentary domestic analogue will be offered by the Ministry of Digital Development. According to the Russian public services web Gosuslugi, the service is offered to legal entities – site owners upon request and is delivered within 5 working days (translated).

However, it can take a while for new Certificate Authorities (CA) to pass scrutiny from various businesses before being trusted by web browsers.

The Yandex browser and Atom products from Russia are the only web browsers that now acknowledge Russia’s new CA as reliable, so Russian consumers are advised to use these rather than Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.

Sberbank, VTB, and the Russian Central Bank are among the websites that have already obtained and are presently utilising these state-provided certifications.

A list of 198 domains with a notification to use the local TLS certificate has purportedly been distributed in Russian media, but its usage is not now required.

A questionable proposition
Users of other browsers can manually apply the new Russian root certificate to keep accessing Russian websites that use the state-issued certificate. Examples of these browsers include Chrome and Firefox.

However, this raises fears that Russia might misuse its CA root certificate to carry out man-in-the-middle attacks and intercept HTTPS data.

The new root certificate would eventually be added to the list of certificates that have had their validity revoked as a result of this misuse (CRL).
As a result, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox will prohibit access to any websites utilising these domestic certificates, rendering them invalid.

All parties are obliged to trust certificate authorities. However, it is unlikely that the main browser vendors will add Russia to their root certificate stores given that it does not already have any level of trust.

To mitigate the negative effects of Western sanctions on its economy, Russia has taken some extreme steps. Many have assumed that the time has come to shut off communication with the world internet and move its users to the “Runet.”

In a statement distributed to local news agencies in reaction to these claims, the Russian Ministry for Digital Technologies categorically denied that there is a plan to turn off the internet from within.

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New York Times reports that investigators are investigating whether solarwinds’ offices in Czech, Polish, and Belorussia have been hacked (NEW YORK TIMES).

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solarwinds’ office

Sources: investigators are checking if SolarWinds was hacked via its offices in Czechia, Poland, and Belarus, where the company moved much of its engineering  —  Those behind the widespread intrusion into government and corporate networks exploited seams in U.S. defenses and gave away nothing to American monitoring of their systems.

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