For decades, the JavaScript ecosystem has been a welcoming, innovative space where anyone can publish and share code. It's been beautiful. It's democratized software development. But it's also been a security nightmare.
We've Been Here Before
Remember the jQuery plugin days? The WordPress extension chaos? CSS hacks with base64-encoded JavaScript exploits that would infect your entire website? That was supposed to be decades ago. Ancient history. The bad old days.
But here we are, almost in 2026, watching Shai-Hulud get its second comeback with trivial backdoors. (And yes, I hate the Dune movies anyway.)
This Is Embarrassing
We live in an age of AI. We have talking robots, walking robots, self-driving cars. We're building the future. And yet, we're still publishing npm packages that haven't been scanned for external network calls or obvious exploits.
It's like offering free food from an unknown source and saying "everyone can use this!" with no tracking, no checking, nothing.
This isn't just embarrassing—it's shameful.
The Problem Is Simple
Right now, anyone can publish anything to npm. A package can:
- Make external network calls during installation
- Run arbitrary code in lifecycle scripts
- Include obfuscated malware
- Exfiltrate data from your CI/CD pipeline
- Compromise your entire supply chain
And npm will happily serve it to millions of developers worldwide. No questions asked.
The Solution Should Be Simple Too
We need a security score system—a clear flag displayed on every npm package that shows the result of an in-depth security scan.
Not just CVE checks. Not just outdated dependency warnings. Real security analysis:
- Does this package make network calls during install?
- Are there suspicious lifecycle scripts?
- Is the code obfuscated?
- Does the maintainer use 2FA?
- Has this package or its dependencies been involved in security incidents?
Every package should have a 0-100 security score that developers can see at a glance and CI/CD pipelines can enforce.
I'm Fed Up, So I Built It
That's why I created npm-security-score.
It's an open-source security scoring system that analyzes npm packages for real threats:
npm install -g npm-security-score
npm-security-score express
You get a comprehensive security score based on:
- Lifecycle script analysis (-30 points for suspicious preinstall/postinstall)
- External network calls (-20 points)
- Maintainer security practices (-15 points)
- Code obfuscation detection (-10 points)
- Historical security advisories (-15 points)
- And more
Scores of 90-100? Safe. Below 70? Review required. Below 50? Block it in your CI/CD.
We Should All Be Ashamed
In this age of AI and advanced technology, we're still dealing with preventable supply chain attacks. We have the tools. We have the knowledge. We just need to actually implement security standards.
This Has to Stop. Now.
The wild west of npm needs to end. We need:
- Automated security scanning for every package
- Visible security scores on npmjs.com
- CI/CD enforcement of security thresholds
- Community-driven security standards
I'm really fed up with all this bullshit. That's why I'm putting this out there:
Fork it. Copy it. Contribute. Do whatever it takes. Let's make this happen.
Let's have top-notch secure projects from now on. The minimum should be strict. The standard should be world-class.
Join the Fight
→ GitHub: github.com/01tek/npm-security-score
→ Contribute: Help build the security standard npm deserves
→ Spread the word: Share this with every JavaScript developer you know
The Wild West needs sheriffs. Let's be them.
It's 2026. We have AI. We have robots. We can do better than this.
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