Beware! Don't Autumn For Font Wasn't Constitute Google Chrome Malware Scam

Next fourth dimension when you lot accidentally or curiously province upward on a website amongst jumbled content prompting you lot to download a missing font to read the weblog past times updating the Chrome font pack…

…Just Don't Download together with Install It. It's a Trap!

Scammers together with hackers are targeting Google Chrome users amongst this novel hacking scam that's incredibly slowly to autumn for, prompting users to download a faux Google Chrome font pack update simply to fob them into installing malware on their systems.

Here's What the Scam is together with How it works:

It's a "The 'HoeflerText' font wasn't found" scam.

Security job solid NeoSmart Technologies lately identified the malicious crusade spell browsing an unnamed WordPress website that had allegedly already been compromised, maybe due to failing to apply timely safety updates.

The scam is non a novel i to identified past times NeoSmart. It has been making rounds since final month.

The hackers are inserting JavaScript into poorly secured, but legitimate websites to alteration the text rendering on them, which causes the sites to await all jumbled amongst mis-encoded text containing symbols together with other random characters.

So if Chrome users come upward across such websites from a search engine number or social media site, the script makes the website unreadable together with prompts them to cook the number past times updating their 'Chrome font pack.'

The prompt window says: "The 'HoeflerText' font wasn't found," together with you're together with thence asked to update the "Chrome Font Pack." If clicked, it genuinely installs a malware trojan on your machine.

The scam tin also move used to infect victims reckoner amongst Spora ransomware -- i of the most well-run ransomware operations, discovered at the offset of this year, amongst active infection channels, advanced crypto, together with an advanced ransom payment service.

What makes this scam especially appealing is that everything almost the browser message looks legit, from the type of "missing font" together with the dialog window to the Chrome logo together with the correct shade of bluish on the "update" button.

How to position the Scam?

There are several ways to recognize this scam.

First of all, the dialog window has been hard-coded to demo that you lot are running Chrome version 53 fifty-fifty if you lot genuinely aren't, which mightiness move a clue that something is non right.

Secondly, there's an number amongst the filenames: Clicking the "Update" push proceeds to download an executable file titled "Chrome Font v7.5.1.exe." But this file is non the i shown inwards the malicious pedagogy image, which reads "Chrome_Font.exe."

Even if you lot neglect to position these clues, you lot may larn a touchstone warning, proverb "this file isn't downloaded often," when you lot essay to download the file.

Chrome Does Not Flag it equally Malware

However, what's foreign is that the Chrome browser doesn't flag the file equally malware, but the browser does block it because the file is non downloaded equally good often, which is a touchstone warning.

NeoSmart Technologies has since run the malware through VirusTotal, which revealed that currently exclusively ix out of 59 anti-virus software inwards the database accurately position the file equally malware.

So users are e'er recommended to practice caution when downloading anything from the Internet onto their computers, to hold your antivirus software up-to-date together with do non ever autumn for scam bespeak you lot to update the Chrome font pack, equally it already comes amongst everything you lot need.