Digital Trends

New malware that disguises itself as a Firefox browser plug-in but actually steals and transmits personal details has been found.

If you use Firefox, be very aware. Security company BitDefender has discovered new malware that disguises itself as a plug-in for the browser.

It masquerades as Greasemonkey, an add-on that allows users to write and execute custom scripts to add or augment web page data, according to Vnunet. Instead, it becomes active every time the browser is loaded and tries to steal personal details, especially for financial sites, before transmitting them to a server in Russia.

Viorel Canja, who heads up BitDefender's anti-virus lab, said:

"Users should be aware of the risks they are facing if such confidential information is stolen."

Although malware has tried to pose as Active X files for Internet Explorer before, a disguise as a Firefox plug-in would seem to be something new.