Legit on Windows, victim of a counterfeit harboring adware as a Chrome extension, Internet Download Manager will ruin your browser experience in the second case. The publisher of the real software warns that the copy is dangerous and should not be installed under any circumstances.
Installed over 200,000 times, the Chrome extension Internet Download Manager is a disguised adware. The malware performs operations such as opening links to spam sites, changing the default browser and search engine, displaying pop-up advertisements and prompting users to download other software, extensions for malicious browser and files.
To convince users to download it, the extension promises to increase the download speed of the browser tenfold. Available since at least June 2019, it is actually a copy of legitimate software, called Internet Download Manager also, supported on Windows. This program does have a Chrome (and Firefox) extension, but it is named IDM Integration Module.
The expansion Internet Download Manager for Chrome is malicious
Aware of being the victim of usurpation and that the image of its software is being exploited for malicious purposes, Tonec, its publisher, warns on the website dedicated to the real Internet Download Manager that “all IDM extensions that can be found in the Google Store are fake and should not be used”. Asked by the publication Bleeping ComputerTonec claims to make regular reports to Google, but that the counterfeit always reappears in a short time.
Advanced users probably wouldn’t fall for it, because downloading the extension from the Chrome store isn’t enough for the malware to be active. It requires a very unusual manipulation for the installation of a simple browser extension, consisting in downloading a .zip folder and running an executable file from it. This is then able to execute JavaScript code that will greatly alter the experience on Chrome, as described earlier in the article. Chrome extensions are a prime target for hackers to spread malware.
Source : Bleeping Computer
