Flaw In Major Browsers Allows 3rd-Party Scripts to Steal Your Saved Passwords
Jan 02, 2018
Security researchers have uncovered how marketing companies have started exploiting an 11-year-old bug in browsers' built-in password managers, which allow them to secretly steal your email address for targeted advertising across different browsers and devices. The major concern is that the same loophole could allow malicious actors to steal your saved usernames and passwords from browsers without requiring your interaction. Every modern browser—Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Microsoft Edge—today comes with a built-in easy-to-use password manager tool that allows you to save your login information for automatic form-filling. These browser-based password managers are designed for convenience, as they automatically detect login form on a webpage and fill-in the saved credentials accordingly. However, a team of researchers from Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy has discovered that at least two marketing companies, AdThink and OnAudience, a...
