abarbarian Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Adware vendors buy Chrome Extensions to send ad- and malware-filled updates Once in control, they can silently push new ad-filled "updates" to those users. http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/01/malware-vendors-buy-chrome-extensions-to-send-adware-filled-updates/ To make matters worse, ownership of a Chrome extension can be transferred to another party, and users are never informed when an ownership change happens. Malware and adware vendors have caught wind of this and have started showing up at the doors of extension authors, looking to buy their extensions. Once the deal is done and the ownership of the extension is transferred, the new owners can issue an ad-filled update over Chrome's update service, which sends the adware out to every user of that extension. Something to watch for if you are a Chrome user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Same is true for Firefox and Internet Explorer extensions. Keeping these buggers out of your browser are a pain, but it has to be done. Many extensions you have to be very careful of. I use few regardless. The real problem are the drive-by download installations of the myriad of badware extensions that get pushed to people without their knowledge or with other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Slow and excruciatingly painful death to all SPAMMERs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Slow and excruciatingly painful death to all SPAMMERs. Not all spammers ! Surely. http://youtu.be/anwy2MPT5RE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 We'll make some exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siljaline Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 One month after the company announced that it was kicking some toolbars and other "multipurpose extensions" out of the Chrome Web Store -- to keep its browser's interface uncluttered and to protect users from unpleasant surprises -- it has removed two Chrome extensions, according to The Wall Street Journal. The two extensions, "Add to Feedly" and "Tweet This Page," reportedly had their code updated so that users would see more pop-up ads while using Chrome. Dozens of users took to message boards after the update to complain about the ads. [...] Google discards extensions that force feed users ads in Chrome 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Awesome! Way to go Google Chrome devs! Amit Agrawal, developer of the "Feedly" extension, penned a blog post on Thursday saying that he sold his extension but now regrets it. Once Feedly got in the hands of the new owner, it became laden with "invisible ads that work the background and replace links on every website that you visit into affiliate links." I bet! Especially once it was known what they did with his work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Actually, no. Feedly isn't the one doing this. It's another extension called; "Add to Feedly", plus another extension called "Tweet This Page" from the article siljaline posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siljaline Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Chrome Bugs Allow Sites to Listen to Your Private Conversations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siljaline Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Speech recognition hack turns Google Chrome into advanced bugging device Users of Google's Chrome browser are vulnerable to attacks that allow malicious websites to use a computer microphone to surreptitiously eavesdrop on private conversations for extended periods of time, an expert in speech recognition said. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Gawd! What next, right? Sigh... Thanks siljaline! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.