Rogue Chrome browser extensions ...
FYI...
Rogue Chrome browser extensions ...
- https://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...rome_Web_Store
March 26, 2012 - "Cybercriminals are uploading malicious Chrome browser extensions to the official Chrome Web Store and use them to hijack Facebook accounts, according to security researchers from Kaspersky Lab*. The rogue extensions are advertised on Facebook by scammers and claim to allow changing the color of profile pages, tracking profile visitors or even removing social media viruses... Once installed in the browser, these extensions give attackers complete control over the victim's Facebook account and can be used to spam their friends or to Like pages without authorization. In one case, a rogue extension masqueraded as Adobe Flash Player and was hosted on the official Chrome Web Store... By the time it was identified, it had already been installed by 923 users... Few users are aware that browser extensions can intercept everything they do through the browser. Security compromises based on rogue browser extensions are also more persistent than those based on password theft or other methods, because these extensions can piggyback on active sessions to perform unauthorized actions even if the account owners change their passwords or enable two-factor authentication..."
* http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/20...ome_extensions
:mad:
Cross-browser worm uses commercial Javascript extension engine
FYI...
Cross-browser worm uses commercial Javascript extension engine
- http://h-online.com/-1582931
23 May 2012 - "A cross-browser worm spreading across Facebook is using a commercial cross-browser extension engine. That was the finding made by Kaspersky's Sergey Golovanov who reported* on his examination of the "LilyJade" worm. Golovanov found that a system called Crossrider is used by LilyJade. Crossrider allows developers to write extensions for the browser to its own API and then allows that code to work as a portable extension on Internet Explorer (version 7 or later), Chrome and Firefox. But when you have malware as a portable extension it can also infect browsers running on Linux or Mac OS X as well. Most AV software will not look for it as it is purely JavaScript and doesn't try to leave the browser. Malicious extensions are not new but have traditionally been written to target a particular browser – by using the Crossrider cross-browser extension kit, the LilyJade authors have ensured the maximum coverage for their MitB (Man in the Browser) attack. The LilyJade malware's actual payload appears to be focused on click fraud, spoofing ad modules on Yahoo, YouTube, Bing/MSN, AOL, Google and Facebook. It also has a Facebook-based proliferation mechanism..."
* https://www.securelist.com/en/blog/7...Jade_in_action
:mad:
Vulnerable browsers out-of-date put users at risk
FYI...
Vulnerable browsers (out-of-date) put users at risk
Many users are waiting a month or more to apply important security updates that can protect them from exploits and malware.
- https://www.computerworld.com/s/arti..._users_at_risk
Nov 9, 2012 - "According to the results of a new survey from security software vendor Kaspersky*, nearly a quarter of the browsers currently in use are out of date. Surfing the Web with a vulnerable browser is a recipe for disaster. The Web browser has evolved to become the primary software used on many PCs. People access their email, surf websites, create documents and spreadsheets, access cloud-based file storage and sharing sites, and share with others on social networking sites - all through the browser. Attackers know this as well, which is why it is exceptionally risky to use a browser with known vulnerabilities... researchers analyzed the browser usage data from millions of customers around the world, and uncovered some concerning trends.
- 23% of browsers are not current: 14.5% are still using the previous version, while 8.5% are using even older, obsolete versions.
- When a new version of a browser is released, it can take nearly 10 days for it to surpass the previous version in usage, and an average of about a month for a majority of users to upgrade.
... With the holiday shopping season getting ready to kick off, millions of users will be researching gift ideas, and making holiday gift purchases online. Attackers have marked their calendars as well, and there will almost certainly be a spike in Web-based attacks. It's even more important during the holiday season to make sure you keep your browser, and your security software up to date."
* http://www.kaspersky.com/images/Kasp..._ENG_Final.pdf
:fear::fear:
Browsers hacked - Pwn2Own ...
FYI...
Browsers hacked at Pwn2Own...
- http://h-online.com/-1819164
8 March 2013 - "The Pwn2Own competition at CanSecWest has come to an end with the second day being like the first day. No web browser plugin survived being attacked and Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader XI and Java were all successfully hacked. Vupen security, who had demonstrated exploits of Internet Explorer 10*, Firefox** and Java on day one, returned with an exploit for Adobe Flash... In response to day one's exploits, both Mozilla and Google*** have shipped updates to their browsers. Mozilla's Firefox has been updated to version 19.0.2 with a fix for the vulnerability; the same fix, for a use-after-free in the HTML editor which could lead to arbitrary code execution..."
* https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...letin/ms13-021
March 12, 2013 - Critical - IE 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
** https://www.mozilla.org/security/kno...#firefox19.0.2
Fixed in Firefox 19.0.2
*** http://googlechromereleases.blogspot...-update_7.html
Fixed in v25.0.1364.160
:fear::fear::fear:
Users ignore Chrome security warnings
FYI...
Users ignore Chrome security warnings...
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07...ecure_browser/
15 July 2013 - "... The study, Alice in Warningland: A Large-Scale Field Study of Browser Security Warning Effectiveness (PDF*) collected “25,405,944 warning impressions in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox in May and June 2013” and found that plenty were ignored.
Here's the basic data.
>> http://regmedia.co.uk/2013/07/15/goo...wser_study.png
... The study's authors, one Googler and Devdatta Akhawe of the University of California, Berkeley, are not sure why Chrome users are so blasé. False positives are one possible reason, differing levels of competence among users are also found to account for another point or two of difference. “Warning fatigue” is advanced as another reason users ignore warnings, and the study re-learns one of the lessons of Windows Vista by pondering if fewer warnings may be one way to improve security..."
* http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~devdatta...arningland.pdf
:sad::fear:
Fake extensions for Chrome or Firefox - hijack...
FYI...
Fake extensions for Chrome or Firefox - hijack...
- http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...owser-add-ons/
July 30, 2013 - "We spotted yet another threat lurking around social media sites targeting users of either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This threat uses fake extensions for both browsers to infiltrate user systems and hijack social media accounts – specifically, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts. To install these fake extensions, users would see various lures on social media sites to try to get users to install a fake video player update. In reality, this player update is a -malicious- file detected as TROJ_FEBUSER.AA, installs a browser plugin depending on the browser currently being used. One earlier version we saw for Google Chrome, detected as JS_FEBUSER.AA, identifies itself as Chrome Service Pack 5.0.0. In the case of Mozilla Firefox, the fake plugin is Mozilla Service Pack 5.0:
> http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...-AA-plugin.jpg
Google Chrome has since flagged this particular plugin as malicious. An updated version of the plugin, detected as JS_FEBUSER.AB, is identified as F-Secure Security Pack 6.1.0 (for Google Chrome) and F-Secure Security Pack 6.1 (for Mozilla Firefox):
> http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...-AB-plugin.jpg
Once installed, it connects to a malicious URL to download a configuration file. It uses the details on that configuration file to hijack the user’s social media accounts and perform the following actions, -without- any authorization from the user:
• Like pages
• Share posts
• Join a group
• Invite friends to a group
• Chat with friends
• Post comments
• Update status
This threat tries to perform the above actions on three different social networks: Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Because of this, in effect, the attackers are able to hijack the accounts of the users and could, for example, use them to spread links to other malicious sites. One more thing to note: the fake video player update is digitally signed... Users are once more reminded to always be aware and vigilant of such scams..."
- https://net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2547
31.07.2013
:sad::fear::fear:
Browser plugins - up-to-date? ...
FYI...
Browser plugins - up-to-date? ...
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12...er_insecurity/
Dec 2, 2013 - "... findings, based on 1.4 million BrowserCheck* computer scans, paint a picture of e-commerce buyers left wide open to attacks by cybercriminals just before the busiest online shopping period of the year. Browser vulnerabilities are routinely used to push malware at victims from compromised (often otherwise legitimate) websites through drive-by download attacks. Chrome has close to 40 per cent of its instances afflicted with a critical vulnerability. Similar numbers apply to Firefox and Internet Explorer, which have 35 per cent and 41 per cent of their instances vulnerable to attacks. Safari (29 per cent) and Opera (34 per cent) came in as the best of a bad bunch, according to the figures from Qualys**..."
** https://community.qualys.com/blogs/l...hopping-online
Vulnerable Browsers - 2013
- https://community.qualys.com/servlet.../vb_2013_6.png
Most vulnerable Plugins - 2013
- https://community.qualys.com/servlet...0/vbp_2013.png
* BrowserCheck: https://browsercheck.qualys.com/?scan_type=js
:fear::fear:
Chrome Pop-Up to warn Windows users of Browser Hijacking
FYI...
Chrome Pop-Up to warn Windows users of Browser Hijacking
- http://threatpost.com/chrome-pop-up-...jacking/104009
Feb 3, 2014 - "A rising number of online -scams- involve the modification of browser settings where a hacker spikes a free download or website with malware. The end result is generally a click-fraud scheme of some kind where the new browser settings might include spiked search engine pages or a new home page enticing the user to click on a link where the attacker would profit from the click. Google says hijacked settings are Chrome users’ No. 1 complaint, and late last week it enhanced an existing feature* in the browser to get a little more in your face about fending off hijacking attempts..."
* http://chrome.blogspot.com/2014/01/c...-settings.html
- https://lh3.ggpht.com/-VP82BPmA4Qo/U...+Prompt+v1.png
:fear::fear: :sad: