Tech company GitHub is dealing with a major cyberattack after hackers reportedly gained illegal access to its internal code systems and tried to blackmail the company. As per the reports, the attackers used stolen GitHub access tokens to enter company systems and download private source code, raising security concerns across the software industry.
In a further escalation of the breach, the attackers have placed the stolen GitHub dataset up for sale on underground cybercrime forums, demanding offers exceeding $50,000.
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According to the threat actor's forum post, the compromise is far more extensive than initially feared, encompassing approximately 4,000 private repositories tied directly to GitHub's main platform.
A hacker group calling itself “TeamPCP” shared file lists and screenshots of repository names online to support its claims. The group also said it could provide sample data to serious buyers as proof of the alleged breach, according to media reports.
After the claims spread widely, GitHub confirmed it had started an investigation. The company said unauthorised access had occurred but assured users that customer data was not affected.
The latest breach happened shortly after another major security issue linked to GitHub, where a human mistake, not hackers, exposed sensitive US government data.
In that case, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) accidentally shared secret login keys and access tokens on a public GitHub page. Researcher Guillaume Valadon found the exposed details in spreadsheets uploaded by a worker from a CISA contractor, as per NewsBytes.
Experts warned that the leaked information could have allowed unauthorised access to systems used by CISA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), making it a serious security failure.
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