Fake Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' has 200,000 installs

guest · Aug 24, 2022

August 24, 2022

Google Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' installed by more than 200,000 users is adware.

The extension has been sitting on the Chrome Web Store since at least June 2019, according to the earliest reviews posted by users.
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Although the extension may install a known and legitimate download manager program, BleepingComputer observed unwanted behavior exhibited by the extension—such as opening links to spammy sites, changing the default browser search engine, and further hounding the user with pop-ups asking them to download more "patches" and unwanted programs.
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Dodgy Chrome extension installed by 200,000+ users
A concered BleepingComputer reader reached out to us on seeing a Chrome add-on "running malicious sites by impersonating famous software."

And their concern seems valid. The 'Internet Download Manager' browser extension installed by more than 200,000 users to date doesn't seem all that innocent.
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There does exist a legitimate Windows program called Internet Download Manager, published by software company Tonec.
Tonec does offer Internet Download Manager extensions for Firefox and Chrome. But, the authentic Chrome extension provided by the company is called 'IDM Integration Module.'

Further, Tonec's FAQ specifically warns, "Please note that all IDM extensions that can be found in Google Store are fake and should not be used."
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zapjb · Aug 24, 2022

Surprised it's not on millions of pcs. Used to be a huge program.

Rasheed187 · Aug 26, 2022

zapjb said: ↑

Surprised it's not on millions of pcs. Used to be a huge program.
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It's actually quite shocking that Google is allowing IDM to be abused. And I have to say that browser developers really need to do something about this, like building some kind of extensions sandbox.

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Fake Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' has 200,000 installs

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