Fake Missing Plugin Alerts Used to Spread Spyware

While surfing the web, we often get a warning message from the browser, notifying that an extra plugin is needed to view certain content. Lately, instead of creating fake plug-ins, crooks started creating websites which contain elements that seem to genuinely belong to the browser.

Zscaler researchers have found that a French site was serving users with a missing plugin warning that was actually part of the webpage.

Users who may be tempted to click the Install Missing Plugin button in order to obtain the so-called VLC plugin are served with a classic pay-per-install application that earns the spammers money for each user that installs the rogue software.

There are however certain details that give away the fact that the bar is not actually part of the browser. Besides the small visual differences, the website will display the same Firefox missing plugin bar, even if the user utilizes other browsers.