Defender's Corner

GitHub is shipping a meaningful supply chain defence into NPM (Node Package Manager — the tool developers use to install software packages for JavaScript projects) with version 12, due in July.

Currently, packages can run code automatically the moment a developer installs them — before anyone has reviewed what that code does. Attackers have been exploiting this behaviour for months, including through a self-replicating worm called Shai-Hulud that spread malware across thousands of developer environments. A supply chain attack (targeting the tools developers use rather than end users directly) is particularly damaging because it poisons software at the point of creation.

From NPM 12 onwards, those install scripts will be blocked by default unless explicitly allowed. If your team builds with JavaScript, brief them before July and audit which packages currently rely on automatic scripts.

Google filed a lawsuit this week against a Chinese cybercrime network running mass smishing (smishing: phishing via text message) campaigns against Americans. The texts impersonated banks and phone carriers, claimed urgent account problems or uncollected rewards, and linked to fake websites built to steal personal and financial information.

The defence costs nothing: do not click links in unexpected texts, regardless of how legitimate the sender appears. If the message sounds urgent, open the company's official app directly or type their website address yourself. Never follow the link in the text.

Your phone carrier almost certainly has a free spam-blocking feature. Check your settings or contact them to switch it on.

Two separate research teams this week demonstrated that OpenClaw, a popular self-hosted AI agent, can be manipulated into running attacker-controlled code or handing over sensitive credentials, according to The Hacker News.

Imperva found that hiding instructions inside shared contacts, vCards, or location pins was enough for the agent to act on them without the user ever seeing them. Varonis showed that a single plain email could talk the agent into forwarding cloud credentials and a customer data export to an outside address.

Imperva's finding is patched in OpenClaw version 2026.4.23. The Varonis finding is structural: the fix is not a software update but a policy. Limit what your AI agent can access, restrict which actions it can take without your confirmation, and audit what integrations it holds.

If you run OpenClaw, update to version 2026.4.23 today.

If you or anyone on your team works with JavaScript or Node.js projects, this one is worth knowing.

GitHub has announced that npm v12 — the tool developers use to install software packages — will no longer automatically run installation scripts from third-party packages, according to BleepingComputer. Currently, when you install a package, it can silently run code on your machine as part of that process. npm v12, expected next month, will require explicit approval before any of that happens.

This matters because supply chain attacks — where attackers hide malicious code inside legitimate-looking packages — have surged. This change will not stop every attack, but it removes the silent automatic execution that makes them so effective.

Action: If your team uses npm, brief your developers on the change before v12 drops. Packages that previously installed silently may require new approval steps.

At WWDC 2026, Apple announced a new AI-powered feature coming with iOS 27: the built-in Passwords app and Safari will automatically update weak, duplicate, or compromised passwords on eligible accounts — without you having to do it manually, according to BleepingComputer.

Right now, Apple already flags weak or reused passwords. The new step is that it acts on them. Apple says the process runs on-device using Apple Intelligence, so your passwords are not sent to external servers.

What to do: If you use an iPhone or Mac, make sure your device is enrolled to receive iOS 27 when it ships. In the meantime, open the Passwords app (built into iOS 17 and later) and check the Security Recommendations section — it will show you which passwords are weak or compromised right now, and you can start fixing them before the feature does it automatically.

Microsoft announced that Visual Studio Code — a widely used code editor for developers — will now delay automatic extension updates by two hours before applying them. According to The Hacker News, this window gives security teams time to catch malicious updates before they reach users — a direct response to supply chain attacks (where attackers compromise a trusted tool to sneak malware into many systems at once).

If you are a developer using VS Code, this is already being rolled out. No action needed — but it is worth knowing that your editor is now a little more paranoid on your behalf. If your organisation manages VS Code deployments, check that auto-update is enabled so this protection applies.

OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — has begun rolling out Lockdown Mode to eligible personal accounts. The feature restricts tools and integrations that could allow prompt injection attacks (where hidden instructions inside content you paste into ChatGPT hijack the conversation and leak your data to an attacker) from exfiltrating (stealing and sending out) your sensitive information.

If you paste work documents, client details, or anything confidential into ChatGPT, this is worth turning on today.

How to enable it: Go to ChatGPT Settings → Security → Lockdown Mode and toggle it on.

Read more at The Hacker News.