AI Browser | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

A new agentic browser attack targeting Perplexity's Comet browser that's capable of turning a seemingly innocuous email into a destructive action that wipes a user's entire Google Drive contents, findings from Straiker STAR Labs show. The zero-click Google Drive Wiper technique hinges on connecting the browser to services like Gmail and Google Drive to automate routine tasks by granting them access to read emails, as well as browse files and folders, and perform actions like moving, renaming, or deleting content. For instance, a prompt issued by a benign user might look like this: "Please check my email and complete all my recent organization tasks." This will cause the browser agent to search the inbox for relevant messages and perform the necessary actions. "This behavior reflects excessive agency in LLM-powered assistants where the LLM performs actions that go far beyond the user's explicit request," security researcher Amanda Rousseau said in ...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new attack called CometJacking targeting Perplexity's agentic AI browser Comet by embedding malicious prompts within a seemingly innocuous link to siphon sensitive data, including from connected services, like email and calendar. The sneaky prompt injection attack plays out in the form of a malicious link that, when clicked, triggers the unexpected behavior unbeknownst to the victims. "CometJacking shows how a single, weaponized URL can quietly flip an AI browser from a trusted co-pilot to an insider threat," Michelle Levy, Head of Security Research at LayerX, said in a statement shared with The Hacker News. "This isn't just about stealing data; it's about hijacking the agent that already has the keys. Our research proves that trivial obfuscation can bypass data exfiltration checks and pull email, calendar, and connector data off-box in one click. AI-native browsers need security-by-design for agent...