Python Security alert for python libraries

AI Thread Summary
The security alert from the Slovak National Security Authority warns about fake Python libraries that contain malicious code, albeit relatively benign. This highlights the importance of using trusted sources for Python packages. Installing Python modules from a Linux distribution's repository is recommended, as it provides an additional layer of security through vetting and testing by repository maintainers. The alert has prompted organizations to review their installations for potentially infected packages, with some using provided scripts for verification.
Stephen Tashi
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This seems like a good argument for using Linux. I install all the python modules I need from my Linux distro's repository. So fake packages would have had to get by the vetting and testing of the repository's maintainer. That's an added level of security.
 
Stephen Tashi said:
This security alert
http://www.nbu.gov.sk/skcsirt-sa-20170909-pypi/
warns against fake python libraries: containing "malicious (but relatively benign) code".
I just saw this today. A corporate email went out in my office a couple of weeks ago about this and we've been checking all of our installations for the infected packages using the scripts in your link.
 
Thread 'Is this public key encryption?'
I've tried to intuit public key encryption but never quite managed. But this seems to wrap it up in a bow. This seems to be a very elegant way of transmitting a message publicly that only the sender and receiver can decipher. Is this how PKE works? No, it cant be. In the above case, the requester knows the target's "secret" key - because they have his ID, and therefore knows his birthdate.
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