Google Chrome Flaw Exposed; Use Caution Until Fixed

Some believe that three months is long enough to give a big company like Google time to correct a serious security issue in its browser. At least that is what a Chinese researcher believed when he spilled the news that there is a serious issue in Google’s Chrome browser three months after he reported it to the company. The company hasn’t yet patched it, so he thought it was time to let everyone know it existed. This one may allow an attacker to get malicious code onto a device without any interaction from the user.

Using a game app, he instructed the phone of an Android device to place a call to a server where the malicious code was stored. It then loaded an infected webpage and ultimately infecting the device. The exact method of how this is done was not disclosed.

It is likely that Chrome will be patched very soon, now that this information has been released. However, it is better to take matters into your own hands and take some precautions until it does.

• Consider using another browser on your mobile devices until it’s patched

• Make sure anti-malware is installed on your mobile devices. Keep it updated as well. If there is an anti-phishing feature, activate it, if you haven’t done so already

• Be wary of clicking links or attachments in email messages. You should be 100% confident they are safe when doing so. If not, trash the message

• When downloading apps, make sure they are from the official Google Play Store and not sideloaded. Even though this flaw may thwart Google's security measures for apps in the store, it still lowers risk of downloading infected apps considerably

Since this exploit could conceivably be executed using Chrome on any device, make sure all computers are running anti-malware and that it’s updated too. Also consider using other browsers on your computers too.

This bug took three months to find, so even though it’s unlikely it will be actively exploited in the wild soon, it’s better to be safe.  Also, because this is a pretty serious flaw, keep all operating systems and software on all computers and devices updated and patched. Even if this one ends up being benign, that doesn’t mean there isn’t another serious one lurking around the corner that isn’t.