Increased cyber attacks target open source projects in latest trends

TLDR:

• Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and OpenJS Foundation warn of social engineering attacks on open source projects
• Attack similar to recent XZ Utils incident highlights need for vigilance among maintainers

The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and the OpenJS Foundation have issued warnings about potential social engineering attacks on open source projects following a recent incident with the XZ Utils data compression library. The attack on XZ Utils involved a threat actor infiltrating the project and attempting to introduce a backdoor vulnerability. Now, other open source projects are being urged to be vigilant for similar takeover attempts with unknown individuals seeking maintainer status. The foundations are advising project members to watch for aggressive pursuit of maintainer status by new community members, unexplained security requests, and a sense of urgency in communications. Maintainers are encouraged to share any suspicious activity with the community to help develop protective strategies. These attacks underscore the vulnerability of the open source ecosystem and the importance of protecting against social engineering tactics.