Malware attacks have become too frequent, especially after most of the work has shifted to the online platform after the pandemic. Now another malware has been detected by Microsoft that is affecting all the major browsers on the internet such as Google Chrome, Firefox, and even Microsoft Edge. This malware campaign is built to inject fraudulent ads into the search results and siphon off users’ personal information. As per Microsoft, the name of the malware is Adrozek and has been affecting the browsers between the duration of May to September. 

As per the official statement from Microsoft, “In total, from May to September 2020, we recorded hundreds of thousands of encounters of the Adrozek malware across the globe, with a heavy concentration in Europe and in South Asia and Southeast Asia.” The malware is capable of modifying the web browsers and especially Chrome, Mozilla, and Edge, which accounts for more than 70% of usage in the world. Microsoft has identified 159 domains through which the malware could be spread easily into the browser along with 17,300 different Urls used for this purpose. 

As per the statement from Microsoft, “If not detected and blocked, Adrozek adds browser extensions, modifies a specific DLL per target browser, and changes browser settings to insert additional, unauthorized ads into web pages, often on top of legitimate ads from search engines.” The malware will produce a lot of ads, clicking on which would lead to affiliate pages on the web. It is one of the ways through which attackers earn a lot of money. This malware has been designed to generate illegitimate affiliate revenue. Microsoft has advised the users of these browsers not to download any file from unknown sources on the web and if they think that they are already affected by this malware, then it would be best to uninstall and reinstall the browser again.