Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

ItsjustMe

(11,597 posts)
Fri Dec 11, 2020, 10:56 PM Dec 2020

Microsoft exposes Adrozek, malware that hijacks Chrome, Edge, and Firefox

Microsoft says that at its peak, Adrozek had controlled more than 30,000 devices a day.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-exposes-adrozek-malware-that-hijacks-chrome-edge-and-firefox/

Microsoft has raised the alarm today about a new malware strain that infects users' devices and then proceeds to modify browsers and their settings in order to inject ads into search results pages.

Named Adrozek, the malware has been active since at least May 2020 and reached its absolute peak in August this year when it controlled more than 30,000 browsers each day.

But in a report today, the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team believes the number of infected users is much, much higher. Microsoft researchers said that between May and September 2020, they observed "hundreds of thousands" of Adrozek detections all over the globe.

Based on internal telemetry, the highest concentration of victims appears to be located in Europe, followed by South and Southeast Asia.

But if this wasn't bad enough, Microsoft says that on Firefox, Adrozek also contains a secondary feature that extracts credentials from the browser and uploads the data to the attacker's servers.

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Microsoft exposes Adrozek, malware that hijacks Chrome, Edge, and Firefox (Original Post) ItsjustMe Dec 2020 OP
and what did microsoft do about it actually? says reinstall browsers but how does one know one msongs Dec 2020 #1
Glad I use Opera. Arne Dec 2020 #2
Thanks for the link. HubertHeaver Dec 2020 #3
Opera is a Chromium-based browser like Chrome and Edge. Eugene Dec 2020 #4
I'm not familiar with Yandex. Arne Dec 2020 #7
Geez. Don't you get overwhelmed with alerts? hlthe2b Dec 2020 #5
Yes but I learn a lot. Arne Dec 2020 #6
+1 CloudWatcher Dec 2020 #8

msongs

(70,086 posts)
1. and what did microsoft do about it actually? says reinstall browsers but how does one know one
Fri Dec 11, 2020, 11:07 PM
Dec 2020

even has sit on one's computer

Eugene

(62,626 posts)
4. Opera is a Chromium-based browser like Chrome and Edge.
Sat Dec 12, 2020, 07:03 AM
Dec 2020
https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2020/12/10/widespread-malware-campaign-seeks-to-silently-inject-ads-into-search-results-affects-multiple-browsers/

Microsoft's posting states Adrozek works a malicious Chrome extension. Other reports name Chromium-based browsers (Google Chrome, MS Edge and Yandex) as 3 of the big 4 victims. The post implies but does not state a generic vulnerability.

A Google search shows reports of Opera-related incidents going back to September.

Arne

(3,578 posts)
7. I'm not familiar with Yandex.
Sat Dec 12, 2020, 09:31 AM
Dec 2020

I've been keeping everybody updated with latest version, good or bad I haven't experienced
problems.
Keeping caches dumped and temps wiped allows me to browse very quickly even with old systems.

Latest Discussions»Help & Search»Computer Help and Support»Microsoft exposes Adrozek...