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Security Intermediate

What is Supply Chain Attack?

A cyberattack that targets less-secure elements in the software supply chain to compromise downstream users and organizations.

Supply chain attacks compromise software before it reaches end users by targeting dependencies, build systems, or distribution channels. Examples include typosquatting (malicious packages with similar names on PyPI/npm), compromised maintainer accounts, backdoored updates (SolarWinds attack), and poisoned CI/CD pipelines. Defense measures include pinning dependency versions, using lock files, verifying package signatures, scanning dependencies for known vulnerabilities (npm audit, pip-audit, Snyk), using private package registries, implementing Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), and practicing least-privilege in build systems. The Log4Shell vulnerability demonstrated how a single dependency can impact millions of applications.

Related Terms

Secret Management
The practice of securely storing, accessing, and rotating sensitive credentials like API keys, passwords, and certificates.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
A strategy and set of tools that detect and prevent unauthorized transmission of sensitive data outside an organization.
Security Hardening
The process of reducing a system's attack surface by disabling unnecessary services, applying patches, and configuring security controls.
Session Hijacking
An attack where an adversary takes over a legitimate user session by stealing or predicting the session identifier.
Webhook Signature Verification
A security mechanism that verifies webhook payloads are authentic and unmodified using cryptographic signatures.
Phishing
A social engineering attack that uses fraudulent communications to trick people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware.
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