The fake ‘Internet Download Manager’ Chrome Extension Has Been Downloaded Over 200,000 Times

The fake ‘Internet Download Manager’ Chrome extension, masquerading as a legitimate tool, has been downloaded over 200,000 times.

The fake Chrome extension

The adware ‘Internet Download Manager’ Google Chrome extension has been installed by more than 200,000 users. According to reviews, this extension has been on the Chrome Web Store since June 2019.

The extension has been observed to exhibit undesirable behavior. For example, opening links to spammy sites, changing the default browser search engine. According to user reviews, this plugin imitates IDM software and runs malicious sites.

Tonec company offers Internet Download Manager extensions for Firefox and Chrome. But the original Chrome extension is called IDM Integration Module.

The fake Internet Download Manager extension

The fake Internet Download Manager extension is thought to be run by a website called “Puupnewsapp” which claims to “increase download speed by up to 500%”.

Once the ‘Internet Download Manager’ is installed, the user is prompted to download an executable from the puupnewsapp website and download a Windows patch ZIP file.

Frequent pop-ups were detected, forcing the user to install more add-ons such as Firefox, such as the extension that launches third-party sites in the browser.

Many reviewers say there are no issues with the extension, but some users seem to have noticed the dangerous behavior.

Care should be taken when installing new Chrome extensions and check if they are official versions from trusted parties.