Why Github Commits Aren T As Private As You Think Hackernoon

Hello and welcome to your monthly tech digest from HackerNoon! 🚀 Every month, we bring you the most talked-about stories in tech. From AI innovations to crypto debates and everything in between, consider this your shortcut to staying informed. This edition dives into the skill that can get you hired instantly, the future of AI-generated websites, privacy risks on GitHub, and why quality content still matters in a world of AI noise, and... Let’s get started!

Subscribe to the HackerNoon Newsletter to have top tech stories delivered straight to your inbox daily at noon. Tech resumes are evolving, but one timeless soft skill remains the ultimate hiring differentiator—especially in a world dominated by AI and automation. Discover what top recruiters are really looking for, and how mastering this can future-proof your career. 10:45 am August 6, 2024 By Julian Horsey Private and deleted GitHub repositories are not as secure as users might assume. Data from deleted forks, deleted repositories, and private repositories can still be accessed, often indefinitely.

This is an intentional design by GitHub, not a flaw. The implications of this design raise significant security concerns, especially for sensitive information. Proton Penguin has created a useful guide and demonstration providing more insight into how Private GitHub repositories store data and how it can be accessed even after deletion. GitHub has become an indispensable platform for developers worldwide, offering a seamless way to collaborate on code and manage projects. However, users often assume that their private and deleted repositories are completely secure and inaccessible to others. In reality, data from these repositories can still be accessed, due to GitHub’s intentional design decisions.

When a repository or fork is deleted on GitHub, the data associated with it does not disappear entirely. Instead, it remains accessible through commit hashes, which are unique identifiers for specific commits within a repository. These commit hashes can be discovered through brute-forcing techniques, making it easier for individuals to retrieve data from deleted repositories. Furthermore, the GitHub Archive stores these commit hashes, ensuring that they remain discoverable even after the original repository has been removed. The implications of this vulnerability extend beyond deleted repositories. Even private repositories are not immune to potential exposure.

Consider the following scenarios: Hello and welcome to The Extra Byte, a paid-only segment of each week’s Byte Sized. This week we talked about some confusion with GitHub repositories which could cause security issues, and fauxpen-source. You can check out the original post here. This was an interesting little breakdown for me. The GitHub thing was particularly surprising.

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