02/06/2025
New 'browser syncjacking' cyberattack lets hackers take over your computer via Chrome

Hackers have discovered a new way to remotely take control of
your computer - all through the Google Chrome web browser. A
report from cybersecurity company SquareX lays out the new
multifaceted cyberattack, which the firm has dubbed "browser
syncjacking." At the core of the attack is a social engineering
element, as the malicious actor first must convince the user to
download a Chrome extension. The Chrome extension is usually
disguised as a helpful tool that can be downloaded via the
official Chrome Store. It requires minimal permissions, further
cementing its perceived legitimacy to the user. According to
SquareX, the extension actually does usually work as
advertised, in order to further disguise the source of the
attack from the user.

Full Story Source: Mashable https://mashable.com/article/google-chrome-extensions-browser- syncjacking-cyberattack-hack

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August Abolins wrote to All <=-

At the core of the attack is a social engineering
element, as the malicious actor first must convince the user to
download a Chrome extension.

That's not hard these days with how absolutely uneducated they are about
online safety.

When I worked for John Deere, we had a major phishing incident because
people who had master's and doctorate degrees in logistics were opening
emails with payloads. You would not believe how much work IT had to do to
fix things and yet when we told them not to open that again, we were
ignored. That entire factory was and is still filled with uneducated hicks.

I'm so glad I don't work in factory IT anymore.

People deserve what they get by ignoring warnings.

-- Sean

... It's not a bug. It's an unintended feature.
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digimaus wrote to August Abolins <=-

When I worked for John Deere, we had a major phishing incident because people who had master's and doctorate degrees in logistics were opening emails with payloads. You would not believe how much work IT had to do
to fix things and yet when we told them not to open that again, we were ignored. That entire factory was and is still filled with uneducated hicks.

I had the opposite experience - I worked for a company that did screen
savers, and the head of engineering only hired people from a handful of
schools. Many of the algorithms behind those patterns were mathematical
or physics-based, and he had coders with backgrounds in each.

They were the most sanctimonious, "I could do IT's job better than IT"
lusers I'd ever supported.

We did have an Australian coder who made me laugh. He opened a helpdesk
ticket that claimed that "the laserwriter in engineering has gone
billy"




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