Spyware Disguises Itself as Firefox Extension

Juha-Matti Laurio writes "The antivirus specialists at McAfee have warned of a Trojan that disguises itself as a Firefox extension. The trojan installs itself as a Firefox extension, presenting itself as a legitimate existing extension called numberedlinks. It then begins intercepting passwords and credit card numbers entered into the browser, which it then sends to an external server. The most dangerous part of the issue is that it records itself directly into the Firefox configuration data, avoiding the regular installation and confirmation process."

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[kfg]

I refuse to use this trojan until it's ported to Linux.

We have to send a message to developers that we want our apps native.

KFG

Break extension

[Anonymous Coward]

In next version of Firefox, the extension will be broken anyways. Mozilla breaks extension every new release. :D

Thankfully, I'm running IE

[Anonymous Coward]

Which makes me invulnerable to snooping for credit card numbers as all my accounts are empty and my credit rating is ruined.

Re:and?

[hotdiggitydawg]

(response from Lynx user) *cough* ActiveX *cough* *snigger*

Re:Emphasis on that.

[Short Circuit]

If your OS is not secure, no app running on it can be secured.

Ssh...don't tell the RIAA.

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[lowrydr310]

The headline makes it seem like Firefox is bad because there's a new piece of spyware that takes advantage of it.

Darn, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Time to switch to IE. oh, wait a minute...

that's it, I'm switching to Internet Explorer

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had it. That's it, I'm switching to Internet Explorer. You can play with your crappy browser but I'm done with it.

Spyware Disguised as an MSIE Extension

[krell]

It could have been worse, like spyware disguised as a Microsoft Internet Explorer extension. That's sort of like Nixon wearing a Nixon mask.

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Come on, You dont even have to be a script kiddie to write malware for Linux.

This is how it works:

First create an executable that will do bad things. It could even be a csh script. Then send emails to all and sundry like this and attach that file"

Dear Linuxuser,

This is a virus/trojan/worm/malware for Linux. It works on the honor system. Please forward the attachment to all addresses in your .mailrc first and then save it to disk, chmod +x and sudo it. Thank you.

Attachment: malware

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[zo1dberg]

This is the one thing that keeps people from running Linux on their desktops! We normal users don't want to fiddle around with the commandline and stuff like that, we need a point-and-click-interface to compromise the security of our computers! Trust me, until this is fixed, Linux has no hope of ever becoming a serious competitor to Windows.

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[Not The Real Me]

Good point.

A friend of mine has certifications as an MCSE and a CNE. When I tell him to run "ipconfig /all" and "route print" (on his WinXP machine), the look of consternation and confusion on his face is priceless.

make it open source

[kdemetter]

just send the source code in a nice tarball .

that way it's open source and people can improve it .

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[PsychoSid]

csh ! What century have I entered this time.

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[RedOregon]

Actually, I'd call it a "man in the backdoor" attack, considering what it does to you...

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[soft_guy]

A friend of mine has certifications as an MCSE and a CNE

With friends like that, who needs users?

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[jftitan]

Dear Linux User,

    This is a virus created for Windows users, and it is based on the honor system.
  Please forward this email and its trojan/virus written attachment to all your
  Microsoft based users, and let them know how much you care!

    Sincerely,

      Another Linux User Friend

ATTACHMENT: firephox.extention.exe

Re:Personally...

[SydShamino]

Teach a man to send an "internet," and he can be a senator!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClkE64nFDY [youtube.com]
Fast forward to about 2:00.

Re:Not a vulnerability.

[drinkypoo]

It's depressing to me because I think MCSE used to mean something

It still does: Moron Confused by Sun Equipment.

Still better than Netware, which has two certification which stand for Certainly No Experience and Can't Network Anything.