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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

Phishing
A social engineering attack that uses fraudulent communications to trick people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware.
Security Audit
A systematic examination of an information system to assess compliance with security policies, identify vulnerabilities, and verify controls.
Vulnerability Scanning
Automated testing that identifies known security weaknesses in systems, applications, and network infrastructure.
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service)
An attack that floods a target server or network with traffic from multiple sources to overwhelm it and deny service to legitimate users.
JWT (JSON Web Token)
A compact, self-contained token format used for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object.
CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)
An attack that tricks authenticated users into submitting unwanted requests to a web application they are logged into.
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