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posted by janrinok on Wednesday October 21 2015, @02:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-so-subtle dept.

Security researchers have discovered a fiendish form of browser malware that stands in for your copy of Google Chrome and hopes you won't notice the difference.

As reported by PCRisk, the "eFast Browser" works by installing and running itself in place of Chrome. It's based on Google's Chromium open-source software, so it maintains the look and feel of Chrome at first glance, but its behavior is much worse.

First, makes itself the default and takes over several system file associations, including HTML, JPG, PDF, and GIF, according to MalwareBytes. It also hijacks URL associations such as HTTP, HTTPS, and MAILTO, and replaces any Chrome desktop website shortcuts with its own versions. Essentially, eFast Browser makes sure to open itself at any opportunity.

During use, eFast Browser constantly displays pop-up and search ads on top of the page you're visiting. Some of these ads lead to ecommerce sites, while others redirect to potentially malicious webpages, where there's a risk of installing more adware or malware. PCRisk also warns that the browser collects browsing information that could be personally identifiable. It's unclear if eFast Browser adheres to any sort of privacy policy. (The company behind eFast Browser, Clara Labs, has its own privacy policy, though trying to load this page in Chrome brings up a malware warning.)


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:06AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:06AM (#252586)

    They've also replaced my browser with a Chrome lookalike that behaves like malware.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:16AM (#252589)

    Can't tell the difference between Chrome, Firefox or this malware at this point.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @09:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @09:57AM (#252655)

      Distinguishing Chrome and Firefox is easy.

      Chrome: Sends your data to Google, but otherwise works well.
      Firefox: Breaks something with each new version.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @09:58AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @09:58AM (#252656)

      Because Firefox is now a Chrome clone, or because web browsers are now one step away from being malware?

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @01:58PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @01:58PM (#252730)

        Not the AC you're replying to, but both.

  • (Score: 2) by tathra on Thursday October 22 2015, @11:03AM

    by tathra (3367) on Thursday October 22 2015, @11:03AM (#253163)

    No, its talking about Opera, who also replaced their browser with a clone of Chrome which behaves like malware.