IT security and data protection firm Sophos is warning that
hackers could take advantage of an initiative that next week will
see millions of Internet Explorer users invited to choose an
alternative browser.
Following a legal tussle between European Union anti-competition
watchdogs and Microsoft, the software giant will begin to display a
message on the screens of Windows PCs across Europe, suggesting
they use the browser of their choice rather than Internet Explorer
by default.
The first that most users will know is when a dialog pops up
headlined "An important choice to make: your browser", followed by
a kiosk of alternative browser choices including Google Chrome,
Safari, Opera and Firefox.
"The likes of Google and Mozilla will be rubbing their hands in
glee at the chance of increasing their share of the browser market,
and this increased exposure should be good for them. It will be
fascinating to see how many average internet users are tempted to
try surfing via another program," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "But there is a
real danger that cybercriminals might attempt to take advantage of
this initiative by creating bogus browser choice screens that could
pop up on innocent users' PCs and potentially lead them to a
malicious download."
Cluley believes that with possibly millions of people seeing the
legitimate browser choice screen, users querying a similar-looking
pop-up on their screen could be dismissed as overly paranoid and
just told to follow its instructions and download what they believe
to be an alternative browser.
"Regardless of the dangers of bogus pop-ups pretending to be the
browser choice screen, computer users need to remember that no
browser is perfect, and whichever one you choose it is essential
that you keep it properly patched and updated to reduce the chance
of hackers exploiting security vulnerabilities," continued
Cluley.
More information about the issue is available on
Graham Cluley's blog, and Microsoft has posted further details,
including screenshots of what the choice dialogs will look like, on
its website.
