Private repositories made public can expose previously private commits. GitHub’s design for open code collaboration allows for persistent data access.

GitHub is rolling out support for the free scanning of exposed secrets (such as credentials and auth tokens) to all public repositories on its code hosting platform.

The company found that over 20,000 GitHub repositories that had been set to private in 2024 were still accessible through Copilot.

Learn GitHub basics with this beginner's guide! Master repositories, branches, commits, and pull requests to streamline your coding projects.