Check reviews: See if others are warning about suspicious activity in the reviews of the extension you’re downloading.Īnother great way to stay safe is to enable Google’s Enhanced Protection for Chrome.Keep up to date: Ensure that your computer’s operating system and internet browser are always updated to the latest version.

Don’t trust strangers: Don’t open or download an email attachment from someone you don’t know or trust.

Even though bad downloads can sometimes slip through the cracks, official stores have robust security protocols.

Never download extensions from third-party sites: Only use official extension library for your browser.

If you see a pop-up to update or upgrade, it’s fake. The most important thing to remember is that Flash is no longer used. But just because it’s rampant on third-party libraries and unofficial sources doesn’t mean you’re safe. If you only download Chrome extensions from the official Google store, your chances of encountering Cloud9 are slim. RELATED: Check your browser! These malicious extensions have been installed 1M times How to keep your computer safe from malware It’s easy to use and cheap and is being used by many threat actors for their own purposes. The Cloud9 botnet is distributed for free or sold for a few hundred dollars on various hacker forums.

In some cases, it can use your machine as part of a large botnet to launch DDoS attacks.Īccording to cybersecurity company Zimperium, the first instance of this malware goes back to 2017, and it has been updated several times.

Inject malicious advertising into your browser.

It looks like a legitimate extension but it’s actually the malicious Cloud9 browser botnet tool that hides a remote access trojan.

Get adobe flash