Lazarus Group Uses npm Brandjacking Campaign to Target Developers
Security researchers disclosed a new software supply chain campaign attributed to the North Korean threat actor Lazarus Group. The operation targets software developers through malicious packages uploaded to the npm registry, one of the world's largest repositories for JavaScript software components. Unlike traditional typosquatting attacks that rely on simple spelling mistakes, this campaign uses a more sophisticated technique known as brandjacking, where malicious packages are intentionally designed to appear related to legitimate and widely trusted open-source projects. According to research conducted by Sonatype, dozens of malicious packages were identified as part of the campaign, with some accumulating hundreds of downloads before detection and removal. The attackers created package names that appeared to be extensions, companion tools, utilities, or ecosystem components associated with popular projects such as React, Express, Webpack, Chai, JWT libraries, and Buffer. By usi...