Games imitating fake titles in the series Angry Birds on Google Chrome web store can hijack your browser and display ads on sites extras. According to security firm Barracuda Networks, nearly 85 thousand users of Chrome already installed these fake games.
Phishers attacked when Rovio released the Bad Piggies, new title in the Angry Birds franchise, on September 27. Available on the App Store for $ 1 to $ 3 for iPhone and iPad, and Google Play for free on the Piggies quickly became a success, reaching the Top downloads. But unlike previous titles, the Rovio is not offering an official version of the game browser.
The lack of a free online version for Bad Piggies made room for others trying to capitalize on the success. A few days after the release, Jason Ding, a researcher at Barracuda Networks, found seven free versions of Google Chrome in the store. None was official, but use the Piggies in the title or description, making them easy to find with a simple search.
The Google Chrome Web Store invites developers to submit free applications or plug-ins for the browser, after an initial fee of $ 5. Anyone with a browser can then install and use them, whether on a PC with Windows, Mac, or even Linux. According to Ding, the versions of third-party games from Rovio asked to "access your data on all websites" and also display additional ads when visiting sites like Yahoo, MSN, eBay or iMDB.
Sale Data
"A special code in the plug-in checks the visited page and insert your own ad site playook.info" Ding explains in his blog. "The authors of the plug-in can get all the data when users browse with Chrome and then sell email addresses and even credit card information."
Unaware of the dangers of these fake games, over 83 thousand users of Chrome installed these plug-ins infected, the research estimates the Barracuda. "And the total number is still rising rapidly every day," he says.
The advice is to uninstall the plugin and immediately change your password on other sites, if possible. Furthermore, the researcher advised to consider the permissions requested by apps such as "access your data on all websites" with a critical eye, because such games do not require permission to run correctly.
Phishers attacked when Rovio released the Bad Piggies, new title in the Angry Birds franchise, on September 27. Available on the App Store for $ 1 to $ 3 for iPhone and iPad, and Google Play for free on the Piggies quickly became a success, reaching the Top downloads. But unlike previous titles, the Rovio is not offering an official version of the game browser.
The lack of a free online version for Bad Piggies made room for others trying to capitalize on the success. A few days after the release, Jason Ding, a researcher at Barracuda Networks, found seven free versions of Google Chrome in the store. None was official, but use the Piggies in the title or description, making them easy to find with a simple search.
The Google Chrome Web Store invites developers to submit free applications or plug-ins for the browser, after an initial fee of $ 5. Anyone with a browser can then install and use them, whether on a PC with Windows, Mac, or even Linux. According to Ding, the versions of third-party games from Rovio asked to "access your data on all websites" and also display additional ads when visiting sites like Yahoo, MSN, eBay or iMDB.
Sale Data
"A special code in the plug-in checks the visited page and insert your own ad site playook.info" Ding explains in his blog. "The authors of the plug-in can get all the data when users browse with Chrome and then sell email addresses and even credit card information."
Unaware of the dangers of these fake games, over 83 thousand users of Chrome installed these plug-ins infected, the research estimates the Barracuda. "And the total number is still rising rapidly every day," he says.
The advice is to uninstall the plugin and immediately change your password on other sites, if possible. Furthermore, the researcher advised to consider the permissions requested by apps such as "access your data on all websites" with a critical eye, because such games do not require permission to run correctly.
