Github copilot adding viruses to code

[coder-penguin-2012]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

Today, Github copilot tried to add evogen which is a type of virus that installs other types of viruses and malware to your device. what do i do now?

[itsrakesshchauhan]

GitHub Copilot cannot install software or infect your machine by itself — it only generates code suggestions. If Copilot referenced something called “evogen,” that was just text in a suggestion, not something that executed automatically.

What to do:

• Do not run or execute any unfamiliar code Copilot suggests.
• Remove the suggested code if it references suspicious packages or tools.
• Run an antivirus/antimalware scan as a precaution.
• Review Copilot-generated code carefully, especially anything that installs dependencies or runs shell commands.

Copilot can sometimes hallucinate package names or unsafe examples, so its output should always be reviewed before use. If no code was executed, there is very likely no risk to your system.

[sahididrishi]

To add to @itsrakesshchauhan's excellent response:

Copilot cannot install viruses. Here's why:

What Copilot Does | What Copilot Cannot Do -- | -- Suggests code as text | Execute code on your machine Autocompletes based on patterns | Install packages automatically Generates code snippets | Access your file system

What likely happened: Copilot may have suggested code that references a package name like "evogen" - this is a hallucination (making up package names that sound plausible but may not exist or could be malicious if they do exist).

Action items:

1. ✅ Don't panic - if you didn't run the code, you're safe
2. ✅ Delete any suspicious suggested code
3. ✅ Never blindly install packages Copilot suggests - always verify on npm/PyPI first
4. ✅ Run antivirus scan if you did execute unknown code

Best practice: Always review Copilot suggestions before accepting, especially:

• npm install

   / 

  pip install

   commands
• Shell/terminal commands
• Code that downloads files or makes network requests

You're safe as long as you didn't execute the suggested code! 👍