Security News > 2022 > August > Fake Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' has 200,000 installs
Google Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' installed by more than 200,000 users is adware.
Although the extension may install a known and legitimate download manager program, BleepingComputer observed unwanted behavior exhibited by the extension-such as opening links to spammy sites, changing the default browser search engine, and further hounding the user with pop-ups asking them to download more "Patches" and unwanted programs.
The 'Internet Download Manager' browser extension installed by more than 200,000 users to date doesn't seem all that innocent.
Tonec does offer Internet Download Manager extensions for Firefox and Chrome.
By contrast, the counterfeit 'Internet Download Manager' Chrome extension seems to be maintained by a website called "Puupnewsapp" that claims "It increases your download speed up to 500%" making it a "Super software" for downloading games, movies, music, and "Large files in minutes." Sounds promising.
The instructions provided by the knock-off extension are even more perplexing-why does one need to download and install multiple programs after installing the extension?