Technology - Google News

Three million users installed 28 malicious Chrome or Edge extensions - ZDNet

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 06:30 PM PST

concept-of-malware-notification-or-error-red-alert-warning-of-spam-vector-id11422269351.jpg

More than three million internet users are believed to have installed 15 Chrome, and 13 Edge extensions that contain malicious code, security firm Avast said today.

The 28 extensions contained code that could perform several malicious operations. Avast said it found code to:

redirect user traffic to ads
redirect user traffic to phishing sites
collect personal data, such as birth dates, email addresses, and active devices
collect browsing history
download further malware onto a user's device

Also: Best VPNs

But despite the presence of code to power all the above malicious features, Avast researchers said they believe the primary objective of this campaign was to hijack user traffic for monetary gains.

"For every redirection to a third party domain, the cybercriminals would receive a payment," the company said.

Avast said it discovered the extensions last month and found evidence that some had been active since at least December 2018, when some users first started reporting issues with being redirected to other sites.

Jan Rubín, Malware Researcher at Avast, said they couldn't identify if the extensions had been created with malicious code from the beginning or if the code was added via an update when each extension passed a level of popularity.

And many extensions did become very popular, with tens of thousands of installs. Most did so by posing as add-ons meant to help users download multimedia content from various social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, or Spotify.

Avast said it reported its findings to both Google and Microsoft and that both companies are still investigating the extensions.

Google and Microsoft did not return a request for comment seeking additional information on the status of their investigation into Avast's report or if the extensions were going to be removed.

Below is the list of Chrome extensions that Avast said it found to contain malicious code:

Below is the list of Edge extensions that Avast said it found to contain malicious code:

Until Google or Microsoft decide what's their course of action, Avast recommended that users uninstall and remove the extensions from their browsers.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

OnePlus 7/7T series are facing some problems with the Android 11 update - Gizchina.com

Posted: 17 Dec 2020 01:06 AM PST

If you are excited about the arrival of Android 11 for the OnePlus 7/7T series, then there is something you should know. The Android 11 update for these devices has some issues that the company is currently working on. OnePlus released an official statement on its Forum yesterday stating that the OnePlus 7 & 7T series is facing data decryption failure after the upgrade to Android 11. This means that the company can not roll out the update until it fixes the issue. According to OnePlus, it is currently cooperating with Qualcomm's technical team to strive for a solution as soon as possible.

OnePlus 7

After negotiation, Qualcomm will probably provide a solution within this week. If the progress goes well, the "close beta" will be available this month. Furthermore, the open beta will be launched as soon as possible in the future. The OnePlus 7 & 7T series uses the Snapdragon 855 & 855 Plus both flagships from Qualcomm. While the OnePlus 7 was released in June 2018, the OnePlus 7T arrived in September 2019.

OnePlus 7 specifications

6.41-inch (2340 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio Optic AMOLED display with sRGB color gamut, DCI-P3 color gamut 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection
Octa-Core Snapdragon 855 7nm Mobile Platform (1 x 2.84GHz Kryo 485 + 3 x 2.42GHz Kryo 485 + 4x 1.80GHz Kryo 485) with Adreno 640 GPU
6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 3.0) storage, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 256GB (UFS 3.0) storage
Android 9.0 (Pie) with OxygenOS 9.5
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
48MP rear camera with Dual LED Flash, f/1.6 aperture, 1/2.25″ Sony IMX586 sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, OIS, EIS, 5MP secondary camera with 1.12 µm pixel size, f/2.4 aperture
16MP front-facing camera with Sony IMX471 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 1.0μm pixel size
In-display fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 157.7×74.8×8.2mm; Weight: 182g
USB Type-C audio,Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS (L1 + L2 Dual Band) + GLONASS, USB Type-C
3700mAh battery with fast charging (5V – 4A)

OnePlus 7T specifications

6.55-inch (2400 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 20:9 aspect ratio Fluid AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ sRGB color gamut, DCI-P3 color gamut, 3D Corning Gorilla Glass protection
Octa-Core Snapdragon 855 Plus (1 x Kryo 485 at 2.96GHz + 3 x Kryo 485 at 2.42GHz + 4 x Kryo 385 at 1.8GHz) 7nm Mobile Platform with 675MHz Adreno 640 GPU
8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB / 256GB (UFS 3.0) storage
Android 10 with OxygenOS 10.0
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
48MP rear camera with Dual LED Flash, f/1.6 aperture, 1/2.25″ Sony IMX586 sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, OIS, EIS, 4K 60fps, Super Slow Motion 1080p at 240 fps, 720p at 960fps, 16MP 117° ultra-wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture, 2.5cm macro, 12MP telephoto lens with f/2.2 aperture for 2x optical zoom
16MP front-facing camera with Sony IMX471 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 1.0μm pixel size
In-display fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 160.94×74.44×8.13mm; Weight: 190g
USB Type-C audio,Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos
4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz) 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5, GPS (L1 + L2 Dual Band) + GLONASS, USB Type-C
3800mAh battery with Warp Charge 30T fast charging (5V/6A)