Malicious Update

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A malicious update refers to an update that appears legitimate but contains harmful code.

• mitigate by:
  • secure software supply chain management
  • digital signature verification
  • other software security practices

Example

In 2017, the legitimate software CCleaner was compromised when an unauthorized update was released containing a malicious payload.

• This affected millions of users who downloaded the update, believing it was a standard upgrade to improve their system’s performance.

Example

2020 SolarWinds attack

• attackers used an update to the SolarWinds Orion platform to distribute a malicious backdoor to numerous government and corporate networks
• leading to significant data breaches