Massive NPM supply chain attack puts crypto transactions at risk

After a JavaScript developer's NPM account was compromised in a phishing attack, attackers used it to upload malicious versions of heavily used JavaScript color and debugging libraries, as well as simple utilities that do things like strip-ansi or determine if a variable is-arrayish. Altogether, the packages get around two billion downloads per week, and the compromise is being called the "largest supply chain attack in history".

Once the malicious code is injected, it then intercepts network traffic and API calls, scanning for cryptocurrency transactions across numerous blockchains. When a network request is made to transfer crypto, the malicious code intercepts it and replaces the destination with wallets controlled by the attackers.

Various prominent people in crypto have warned about the attack, with Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet tweeting: "If you use a hardware wallet, pay attention to every transaction before signing and you're safe. If you don't use a hardware wallet, refrain from making any on-chain transactions for now."