ZDnet and other technical news sites have reported that clickjacking — a potentially serious threat — can affect any browser.
A Look at Clickjacking
In laymen’s terms, clickjacking happens when a malicious page is hiding behind what appears to be a safe webpage. When you click on an item, your computer is “clickjacked” by the malicious code, which then hijacks various components of your computer.This happens without your knowledge.
Generally, webcams are hijacked, but clickjacking is not limited to affecting a cam. For example, your sound system or microphone can be exploited, or your computer can be taken over in other ways.
Adobe’s Flash Player was particularly vulnerable to clickjacking threats; however, Adobe has come out with a fix to address the issue.
Is This Only an Explorer or Firefox Problem?
Clickjacking is a malicious code that affects virtually all Internet browsers. Merely disabling javascript will not fix it.
The only known solution is a “No Script” add-on that works with Firefox.
Problems with the Clickjacking Fix
After using No Script for a week or so, I disabled it because it made web surfing a chore. Virtually every site I visted was blocked to some degree because the page contained common elements such as javascript, affiliate ads or YouTube videos. For instance, the following were all blocked by No Script:
- Google Analytics
- Pepperjam network
- Peelaway Ads
- Voxant’s newsroom
- Chitika
- and many, many more (see the partial list of affiliate programs and other utilities blocked by No Script).
One of the few ad networks automatically whitelisted by the No Script add-on is Google’s Adsense. Most of the others will need to be approved manually. It is doubtful that the average Internet user will whitelist advertising networks.
If clickjacking is as bad of a problem as some say it is and if No Script and similar “script blocking” solutions are the only ways to fight back, then online advertising could take a major hit. Adserver Plus and other heavy hitting advertising networks were blocked by the Firefox add-on.
Conclusion: Maybe the Threat is Overrated
My web browsing experience is back up to speed since I’ve disabled No Script and so far I haven’t been hit by any type of clickjacking activities. Perhaps the threat is not as serious as some would claim.
The NotGuru blog has posted some videos that show exactly how clickjacking works and how to install fixes.
Tags: browser hijack, clickjacking, malware, NoScript, Security
