Google warns billions of Chrome users browser has been hacked in ‘high threat’ attack with update to be released in days to fix issue
Google has warned billions of Chrome users that the browser has been successfully targeted by hackers, revealing 30 new security flaws, including seven that pose a ‘high’ threat to users.
The tech company is now releasing an update within the next few days to fix the bugs, which affects Windows, macOS, and Linus, according to the company’s statement.
It is unclear who hacked the firm, and whether any users’ security was put at risk.
Further hack details are currently being restricted by the company ‘until a majority of users are updated with a fix.’
‘We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed,’ the company also said.
Users can manually update their browsers through the settings features, but Chrome will automatically update within a few days.
Google recently announced the increase in hacks to Chrome and other browsers and several other tech companies have reported hacking vulnerabilities. Tech companies are joining together to combat threats, alongside the help of diligent users, to prevent future vulnerabilities.
Coca-Cola was also recently hacked by a Russian group, which is now selling its data.
Stormous said it stole 161 gigabytes of financial data, passwords and accounts before putting the information on the market for $640,000 or 16million Bitcoin.
The team revealed on Monday it had infiltrated the drinks company and got out ‘without their knowledge.’ Coca-Cola said it has launched an urgent investigation and already contacted the police.
‘You will win and we will win,’ read an apparent message from the group, which was later posted on Twitter.
It said the group downloaded 161 gigabytes from the company, which it would sell for more than $640,000 or more than 16 million in Bitcoin.
Among the stolen files, according to CISO Advisor, are financial data, passwords and commercial accounts.
New research has also shown internet users’ passwords aren’t as safe as once thought.
The research said anything with six characters, regardless of whether numbers and symbols are included, can be cracked instantly.
The same goes for anything that is seven or eight characters but made up of just numbers or lower case letters.
But the news doesn’t get much better for any eight-character combination.
In fact, they can all be guessed in about 39 minutes according to US cybersecurity company Hive Systems, which is based in Richmond, Virginia.
On the flip side the way to guarantee that your password won’t be cracked for some 438 trillion years is to use 18 characters made up of numbers, upper and lower case letters and symbols.
