Security News PSA: Beware of Sites Pretending to be Manual Firefox Updates

LASER_oneXM

Level 37
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 4, 2016
2,520
A family of malicious Firefox addons have been discovered being pushed by sites pretending to be a manual update for Firefox. These sites utilize a combination of javascript alerts, user authentication prompts, and full screen views to try and coerce the user into installing the unwanted addons.
...
....
Since learning about one of these addons from Pieter Arntz, I have found over 100 domains being utilized for this scheme. Each domain has its own custom Firefox addon with names like Time Tracking, FF Helper Checker, FF AdBlock Protection, and FF Search Informer.

A small sample of the domains pushing these addons include:

protectantivirext.biz
protecttoolext.com
Guardwebext.xyz
websurfaid.xyz
adblockprotectionext.biz
helpercheckerextt.biz/


When the addons are installed they will inject advertisements into web sites you visit, hijack links so they open advertisements instead of the desired location, and inject Monero miners into Firefox. As you can see these are not very pleasant addons. To make matters worse, they do not allow you to access the Firefox addons page, so it makes it harder to remove them.


For a demonstration of this scam and how it injects code into sites, you can view the video below.
...
......
 
Last edited by a moderator:

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top