If you've read a fair amount of Python code, then you've probably seen this "__init__.py" file pop up quite a few times. It's especially common in larger Python projects. I'm going to breakdown ...

You might be wondering what a Python “package” is, and how it relates to the Python module. Essentially, a package is a group of modules with an __init__.py fie that ties them all together.

Furthermore, this package doesn’t even try to hide its true intentions, and instead is “openly malicious”. Despite being obvious malware, it still managed to rake in 37,217 downloads.

The malicious code was intended for use with Python 2.x, and it generated errors when used in Python 3.x applications. This is how users discovered its presence while debugging their apps.

The uv utility lets you run Python packages and libraries with one command and no setup. Here's the quick guide to running Python packages without installing them.

Devs unknowingly use “malicious” modules snuck into official Python repository Code packages available in PyPI contained modified installation scripts.

A new malicious campaign has been found on the Python Package Index (PyPI) open-source repository involving 24 malicious packages that closely imitate three popular open-source tools: vConnector, ...

And so, only relatively recently did third-party modules start showing up that allow Python apps to be packaged as standalone binaries. PyInstaller — which I covered previously — is one such app.