Hackers are using Facebook ads to spread fake Chrome password managers

From PC World: You probably know that you shouldn’t trust everything you see on Facebook, perhaps doubly so now that the platform seems to be about 80 percent AI-generated slop. But remember that this advice extends to advertising as well.

Facebook ads have been used by hackers — as recently as this month — to spread fake Bitwarden password manager extensions for Chrome, which are infected with dangerous phishing tools.

That’s according to Bitdefender, which details its investigation in a new blog post (spotted by BleepingComputer). According to the researchers, ads on Facebook pretended to offer Bitwarden, one of the most popular password managers on the market. The advertising indicates, falsely, that the viewer is “using an outdated version of Bitwarden” and that they must update it now to stay protected from “cyber threats.”

I wonder if the people who make these ads are aware of the irony, or just don’t give a hoot. The campaign was detected as active as recently as November 3, 2024, specifically targeting users in Europe.

View: Full Article