New malware uploaded to the Google Chrome Web Store by hackers to attack Facebook

A new malware that has been uploaded to the Google Chrome Web Store by hackers is the latest threat that pose problems to internet users especially those who are using Facebook.

The malicious Chrome extensions were uploaded to the official Google Chrome Web Store where Chrome users download as their browser add-ons. Once the fake Chrome extension is downloaded it has the ability to hijack Facebook accounts, apparently stealing Facebook information and using it to hijack Facebook accounts for whatever criminal intent the whack jobs have in mind.

Gizmodo even reported that the malicious Facebook-jacking extensions are even advertised on Facebook. The ads claim that it’s possible to change the color of your Facebook profile page, track profile pages and presumably add unicorns and vajazzling to it too. Of course, some unsuspecting tween might fall for it, get re-directed to the official Chrome Web Store page and assume all extensions are safe because they’re on the official Google page. Unfortunately, they’re not. The extension will hijack your Facebook account, spam your friends about this new extension and then Like pages without you knowing. It’s a dirty process done by people who sell Likes to companies, Gizmodo reported.

The malicious codes pretending to be legitimate Chrome extensions comes in different forms, one was even labeled as Adobe Flash Player. So it is highly important for anyone downloading extensions often for their browsers to double check the source of the extensions before downloading them before it’s too late. Remember, complaining to Facebook that your account was hacked takes weeks to be answered. I have once lost a Facebook page from hackers and I was not able to retrieve it until now.

The infected Chrome extensions were allegedly done by Brazilian hackers, according toUberGizmo. It was discovered by Kaspersky Lab that the malware-laden Chrome extensions are being uploaded to the official Chrome Store, and poses a great risk for Chrome users since, it is from Chrome store thus easily tricking them that it safe to download.

However, according to UberGizmo, the attack of Facebook accounts was largely reported in Brazil and Portuguese speaking nations, but there are no data yet if the malware infected extensions has also affected users from other countries.

Hacker Are all Around you be Aware !!

According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, one in three online computers is remotely controlled by a hacker and not the owner of the device or email address. An alarming find, making the emailing facility very unreliable.

How does this hacking happen? Well, a hacker uses a few devices. I found the common ones on ehowteck.com.

One is using Virus; this is the most popular one in the 21st century. This form of hacking works by injecting a few specialised lines of code into an otherwise harmless executable file.

The infected file is then made available for download on the Internet, and the downloader’s gadget subsequently become infected with the virus.

As web technology advanced, some hackers discovered an internet security flaw that allowed them to install the malicious program directly onto a user’s computer when the user simply visited a certain website.

By exploiting security holes in web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, the program could be quietly downloaded and installed in the background. Once the program infects the machine, the hacker can easily access the machine, take over the machine, or use the infected computer to send bulk advertising (spam) without fear of punishment.

According to ehowteck.com, another is through Unsecure Wireless Network; Hackers exploit this lack of security by simply scouting around for open, unsecured wireless connections.

Once the hacker is connected to the unsecured network, he has a direct connection to any other computer on that network and needs to bypass only very basic security in order to access sensitive data.

And lastly, the hacker can use a brute-force attack, by simply guessing passwords; this is the oldest hacking scheme. Repeatedly entering commonly used passwords such as birth dates and pet names can become very tedious, so some hackers employ automatic scripts known as robots, or bots for short to continually attempt access to a restricted machine, says ehowteck.com.

According to ehowteck.com, these bots can be programmed with tens of thousands of dictionary words and variations thereof, raising the odds that a hacker will eventually gain access. But fortunately modern computer systems and networks attempt to combat this form of attack by denying access and disabling accounts after a specified number of incorrect login attempts.

So if you have noticed the IT guys in your firm getting strict with internet or device access, it’s because of safety.

Prevention is better than cure and to prevent a whole institute from crashing to the ground because money has been stolen by hackers or significant information is in the wrong hands, IT security has probably doubled its strength.

The reputation of a company could be tainted if it has just once been known to be hacked, no one would want to invest or share information with a company that’s easily hacked, it would be a risky and an unwise move.

To counter this problem, according to Forbes, the world’s largest search engine Google, has been offering up rewards to security researchers and friendly hackers to find flaws or bugs in its programming for a while.

There have been several people that have collected rewards for finding these bugs by notifying Google rather than trying to exploit the issues. Google has now announced that it has increased the available rewards for reporting bugs to as much as $20,000 per bug.

Through this contest, hackers were able to exploit Google chrome, one of the much used devices.

So the next time you see a suspicious email with a link, delete it immediately, this is how a hacker tricks us into installing a virus into our computers and thus able to hack everyone in our mailing list if they fall for the trap.

Also try to stick to the old downloading software from a disk, it’s safer, rather than the free ones online, it’s all part of the hacker’s device.

It’s all too well to try and stay off the internet, but we know it’s quite vital for information and communication and work through emailing, research, social networking and so forth. So, if there is a solution to most problems, there is a solution to hackers. I have listed them.

This is what we only see in movies at one time – where the computer nerd ruled the world by just frantically typing away at their keyboards.

Well, its part of the real world now and we need to wise up and take actions to prevent hackers from stealing our lives.

Advancement has its disadvantages and one of them is swords and frontal attacks are not necessary anymore, this can be done easily through the tip of the fingers, literally!