Fake Antivirus Targets Firefox
Firefox users have targeted by a new scam that tries to load a user's PC with fake antivirus software using a passably convincing version of the Windows Update page.
Fake antivirus scams are legion, and ones using bogus update pages of one sort of another are also an established trick. The oddity of the latest incarnation of the attack, discovered by Sophos, is that it triggers only when encountering Windows users of Firefox pushed to it through a page redirect.
Chip TaylorThe first big giveaway? Windows Update can only be started as a background activity in Windows or through Internet Explorer.
(Note from Don... I use to use a Firefox Addon called IE Tab, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ie-tab/. I use to use IE Tab to be able to access Windows Updates from Firefox and to run those pesky little Audio - Video Addons that only worked in Internet Explorer. So, I bet you could be fooled by one of those if you had IE Tab installed and weren't paying close attention.)
The page itself is a copy of the Windows Update page offering an "urgent" 2.8MB download which will turn out to start a useless security scan plugging fake antivirus software. The technique is clever. Users who agree to the update without being entirely sure that it is genuine will be more easily convinced that a PC has been infected with the non-existent malware later detected by the bogus program.
Read More...http://www.pcworld.com/article/229999/fake_antivirus_targets_firefox.html
I use Firefox as my main Web Browser and have for about 8 years. But, I have also been running Fedora and Debian Linux as my main OS's for over 6 years. So, this is news tome. I haven't seen these Pop-ups. Probably because I use AdBlock Plus Browser Addon in addition to the Firefox Popup Blocker. When I did run Firefox on Windows. I use to use a Firefox Addon called IE Tab, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ie-tab/. I use to use IE Tab to be able to access Windows Updates from Firefox and to run those pesky little Audio - Video Addons that only worked in Internet Explorer. So, I bet you could be fooled by one of those if you had IE Tab installed and weren't paying close attention...
Don
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