Hackers are targeting open-source programmers on the popular Git version control repository and Internet hosting service GitHub with a targeted malware campaign spread via fake emails.

Discovered by researchers at Palo Alto Networks Inc. in mid-January, the attacks consist of malicious emails that are specifically crafted to attract the attention of developers, such as requests for help with development projects or offers of payment for custom programming jobs.

These messages, which usually include a .gz compressed file, attempt to trick the victim into running the Dimnie trojan. The trojan is said to have been around since 2014 but hasn’t gained much attention before because it previously targeted only Russian-speaking victims.

Described as a highly modular piece of software, Dimnie gives attackers an extensive range of capabilities that can be tailored to a specific target. Functions available through the trojan include keylogging, theft of information and the ability to take screenshots, read attached smartcards and self-destruct. The trojan uses a number of “novel techniques” to camouflage the data it sends back to its command-and-control server so the traffic won’t be detected by security software.

Tod Beardsley, research director at the security firm Rapid7 Inc., told SiliconANGLE that open-source developers are an attractive target for malware given that the code and software they work on end up on millions of devices worldwide.

“Today’s news from Palo Alto is a great reminder that developers who are publishing code, as a class, do need to stay extra-vigilant when handling binaries from unknown sources,” Beardsley said. “This vigilance might be at odds with the typical helpfulness that’s common to many open source communities, so while it might be uncomfortable to be less helpful to strangers, developers need to protect their users as well as themselves from these kinds of social engineering attacks.”

The good news is that some security products are able to detect the attachments as malware. But ultimately developers need to be wary of opening attached files from unknown sources to begin with.

Photo: othree/Flickr