It sounds like a 90s arcade villain or a punk band, but in reality, it is the nickname security researchers have given to a prolific, automated wave of malicious repositories flooding Microsoft’s code hosting platform.

Here is what you need to know about this campaign, how the "RATs" work, and why your morning git clone just got a lot riskier. The "Mega Rat Pack" isn't a single piece of software. It is a massive, decentralized campaign involving hundreds (potentially thousands) of fake GitHub accounts.

Stay safe, and always audit your dependencies. Have you stumbled across a suspicious repo claiming to be a "crack" or "tool"? Report it to GitHub Security Lab immediately.