Fake Bad Piggies App for Google Chrome Infects 80,000 Computers With Adware

[Raviteja]

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A malicious Google Chrome application that claims to be a browser-based version of Rovio’s new Bad Piggies game has infected more than 80,000 computers with adware. Distributed through the Chrome Web Store, the app installs a plugin that displays advertisements while users are browsing popular websites.

A report from security firm Barracuda Networks details the fake app, which is developed by “www.playook.info”:

Seven of these plugins are from the same source Playook » Have fun to play free flash games, a maker of ‘free’ flash games. A quick glance at the Whois records for playook.info tells us… nothing.

They hide their name behind Whoisguard, a very suspcious thing for a business to do. What’s more, installing these 7 plugins request a significant permissions: ‘access your data on all websites’.

According to the report, users who give the app permission to “access your data on all websites” are at risk of having their personal details — such as usernames, passwords, email addresses, and credit card information — stolen by the developer of the fake app. It recommends that those who have installed it remove it immediately, then change all their passwords.

Bad Piggies isn’t yet available for Google Chrome, so any app that claims to be Rovio’s title is nothing but a fake — which should be avoided at all costs. As should all the other Angry Birds titles “developed” by Playook » Have fun to play free flash games.


Fake Bad Piggies App for Google Chrome Infects 80,000 Computers With Adware | TechnoBuffalo