Executive summary
The PSF has announced that Brett Smith is joining as a new Security Developer, rounding out its existing security team. What's notable is that this position came about through financial support from Anthropic, not from the PSF's internal budget.
The problem being solved
I think the most concrete part of this announcement is the data presented by Seth Larson and Mike Fiedler at PyCon US 2026: the Python Security Response Team (PSRT) is now handling 3-4x the volume of reports and CVEs compared to a year ago, and malware detected and removed from PyPI is up 60% from the previous year. So this isn't just a routine headcount addition—the Python security team is literally being swamped with work, and the article notes that this escalation is partly driven by AI's increasingly complex role, both as a new source of risk and as a tool that aids security response.
Key features and work context
Brett will work alongside two existing roles: Seth Larson (Security Developer in Residence) and Mike Fiedler (PyPI Safety and Security Engineer). His responsibilities cover ongoing routine work—vulnerability remediation, the PSF's role as a CVE Numbering Authority that publishes vulnerability data, and malware removal from PyPI—plus new projects for which there previously wasn't capacity: scaling PyPI's autonomous quarantine program so malware remediation needs less manual intervention, and streamlining the PSRT process so it can keep up with the ever-increasing volume of vulnerability reports.
Since this is a role announcement rather than a software release, there's no new API or flag to try out. But the automated quarantine mechanism mentioned is conceptually similar to the common package registry quarantine pattern—a newly uploaded package is held back before the public can install it, until it passes automated checks. A simple illustration of this kind of pattern:
# Concept illustration: check quarantine status before installing
import subprocess
def is_package_quarantined(package_name: str) -> bool:
result = subprocess.run(
["pip", "index", "versions", package_name],
capture_output=True, text=True
)
return "quarantined" in result.stdout.lower()
if is_package_quarantined("some-new-pkg"):
print("Paket masih dalam karantina otomatis, tunda instalasi.")Impact and upgrade notes
There's nothing Python developers need to change in their own projects—this is a staffing announcement, not a feature release. But the impact isn't without consequence: with the security team's capacity increased, processes like CVE reporting and malware cleanup on PyPI are expected to be handled faster, and going forward there's room for proactive initiatives like expanding automated quarantine, which could potentially reduce malware incidents on the package index. The PSF directs anyone who wants to follow their upcoming security roadmap to subscribe to their blog or newsletter.
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First announced on Python Software Foundation. Read the original source for full details.