packet priest

Microsoft is investigating mistralai PyPI package v2.4.6 compromise. Attackers injected code in mistralai/client/__init__.py that executes on import, downloads hxxps://83[.]142[.]209[.]194/transformers.pyz to /tmp/transformers.pyz, and launches a second-stage payload on Linux. The file name transformers.pyz appears deliberately chosen to mimic the widely used Hugging Face Transformers library and blend into ML/dev environments. The main payload is a credential stealer, but it also includes country-aware logic; it avoids Russian-language environments and contains a geo fenced destructive branch that has 1-in-6 chance of executing rm -rf / when the system appears to be in Israel or Iran. To mitigate this threat: isolate affected Linux hosts, block 83[.]142[.]209[.]194, hunt for /tmp/transformers.pyz, pgmonitor[.]py, and pgsql-monitor.service, and rotate exposed credentials.

Easy money mostly gone in auditing. Many skilled auditors w/great portfolios looking for work + tons of new firms => more competitive market than ever, hence recent ambulance chasing / grave dancing. If you haven't made it already, consider pivoting to AI or learn plumbing.

feels like a good time to seriously rethink how operating systems and user interfaces are designed (also the internet; there should be a protocol that is equally usable by people and agents)