A Hacker ‘Ghost’ Network Is Quietly Spreading Malware on GitHub

A secretive network of around 3,000 “ghost” accounts on GitHub has quietly been manipulating pages on the code-hosting website to promote malware and phishing links, according to new research seen by WIRED. Antonis Terefos, a malware reverse engineer at Check Point who discovered the nefarious behavior, says the persona behind the network uses their false accounts to “star,” “fork,” and “watch” the malicious pages. While cybercriminals have been abusing GitHub for years, uploading malicious code and adapting legitimate repositories, Terefos says he has not previously seen a network of fake accounts operating in this way on the platform. The researcher says the network could be bigger than he expects, as he has “We disabled user accounts in accordance with GitHub’s Acceptable Use Policies, which prohibit posting content that directly supports unlawful active attack or malware campaigns that are causing technical harms,” says Alexis Wales, vice president of security operations at GitHub.