Usually, when we download software from a trusted developer like Mozilla, we are convinced that it contains no viruses or trojans to harm our computers. Surprisingly, that’s not true for Vietnamese language pack for Firefox downloaded after February 18, 2008.
The language pack itself does not carry the virus; instead it has been modified by a virus to remotely load malicious scripts. It’s primarily meant to display advertising, but it could be used for other malicious attacks as well. The virus is a script, so it can potentially harm all operating system. Most antivirus applications will detect the virus as HTML.Xorer.
The add-on has been download around 16000 times since November 2007, but its unknown how many of those downloads came after February 18th. Normally, Mozilla checks for infections when an add-on is uploaded to their site. No subsequent virus scans are performed. Hopefully, Mozilla will take precautions to prevent this from happening in future. The whole issue makes me feel a little insecure about installing add-on for my browser.
[Via: CyberNet]
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