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For many people who purchase a new Windows 10 PC, Microsoft's built-in Google Chrome. The most common way to do this for people who do not have the URL memorized? Type "download Chrome" in the address bar and click the first result provided by Bing search. Those unsuspecting users have a high chance of downloading malware and adware. That's because Bing has been serving up malicious and highly visible Google Chrome ads for months .
Deceptive site ahead. Google and Firefox know this. Bing can not be bothered, apparentlyJason Evangelho
This weekend, Twitter user Gabriel Landau enjoyed his first few hours with a Windows 10 laptop by doing this exact thing (video in Twitter link). The top result for his "chrome download" search via Edge looked ordinary enough. Except that when he clicked it was "GoogleOnline2018.com." The fake site is not exactly a copy of Google's own Chrome landing page. The download itself is called "ChromeSetup.exe," Alphacriteria Ltd. " That's definitely not Google.
Brand new Win10 laptop. Attempt to install Chrome. Almost get owned with my very first action. Why is this still happening in 2018, @bing? Please explain. pic.twitter.com/uYJhu7xa9H
– Gabriel Landau (@GabrielLandau) October 25, 2018
Deceptive Site Ahead
Fortunately Landau was observant enough to detect something fishy was happening, but the way these deceptive ads are hijacking Bing is clever enough to fool the average user.
The malicious URL that makes you happy or not fool Google or Firefox. When I'm just going to the front of my browser, I'm here with a bold red page declaring "Deceptive Site Ahead" completely with details and an option to go back.
Chris Hoffman, EIC of How-To Geek was able to reproduce this error, and several users on Twitter have also complained about it. In his article he points out that the ad comes into rotation every few page refreshes. Because I can not get that result on a Windows 10 install, I suspect it may be targeting users geographically (I live in Europe).
I notified you of this issue, and since you have tweeted it viral overnight, I have confidence the malicious ad will be removed from Bing Search within the next 24 hours.
But the real issue is that it keeps happening.
I searched the web for similar articles and articles from Bleeping Computer dated April 2018. The same type of hijacking install. The most noticeable difference was the domain name "NewChromeDownload.com."
And then again 21 days ago from this user on Reddit. You guessed it. Same procedure, same structure, different domain name.
And then again about 4 months ago.
If you have to use Windows 10, do not use Bing for search. Ever.Microsoft
There's a pattern here, and it's a disturbing one. How many people have been affected by these short-lived recurring hijacks that Microsoft is letting through to millions of people? It's inexcusable that these types of ads are not properly vetted, especially when the majority of browsers are automatically unsafe.
Isolated issues like this – can not seem significant. But when looking at Windows 10 as a whole, things look considerably darker. Microsoft is letting devastating file-deleting bugs through its Windows Insider testers. The update process is unreliable and compared to operating systems like Ubuntu.
What You Can Do
If you must use Windows 10, go directly to Chrome.com to download Google's browser, or to Mozilla.org for Firefox. Commit those to memory or just open up Edge and browse directly to google.com. I also highly recommend installing a tracking blocker like DuckDuckGo. If you want to use the Edge browser, remove the search engine by following these steps.
At the very least, please do not use Bing to search for anything. Ever. You will probably not be reading this.
I'll update this article with the Bing Ads team.
UPDATE: The Bing Ads Twitter account has removed the malicious ad, and says "Hi Gabriel, we're getting rid of it." https: //bit.ly/2PZWZ1u so we can take appropriate action. "
Is it a top priority? One can only hope Microsoft will be more alert when it comes to recurring problem with Bing.
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For many people who purchase a new Windows 10 PC, Microsoft's built-in Google Chrome. The most common way to do this for people who do not have the URL memorized? Type "download Chrome" in the address bar and click the first result provided by Bing search. Those unsuspecting users have a high chance of downloading malware and adware. That's because Bing has been serving up malicious and highly visible Google Chrome ads for months .
Deceptive site ahead. Google and Firefox know this. Bing can not be bothered, apparentlyJason Evangelho
This weekend, Twitter user Gabriel Landau enjoyed his first few hours with a Windows 10 laptop by doing this exact thing (video in Twitter link). The top result for his "chrome download" search via Edge looked ordinary enough. Except that when he clicked it was "GoogleOnline2018.com." The fake site is not exactly a copy of Google's own Chrome landing page. The download itself is called "ChromeSetup.exe," Alphacriteria Ltd. " That's definitely not Google.
Brand new Win10 laptop. Attempt to install Chrome. Almost get owned with my very first action. Why is this still happening in 2018, @bing? Please explain. pic.twitter.com/uYJhu7xa9H
– Gabriel Landau (@GabrielLandau) October 25, 2018
Deceptive Site Ahead
Fortunately Landau was observant enough to detect something fishy was happening, but the way these deceptive ads are hijacking Bing is clever enough to fool the average user.
The malicious URL that makes you happy or not fool Google or Firefox. When I'm just going to the front of my browser, I'm here with a bold red page declaring "Deceptive Site Ahead" completely with details and an option to go back.
Chris Hoffman, EIC of How-To Geek was able to reproduce this error, and several users on Twitter have also complained about it. In his article he points out that the ad comes into rotation every few page refreshes. Because I can not get that result on a Windows 10 install, I suspect it may be targeting users geographically (I live in Europe).
I notified you of this issue, and since you have tweeted it viral overnight, I have confidence the malicious ad will be removed from Bing Search within the next 24 hours.
But the real issue is that it keeps happening.
I searched the web for similar articles and articles from Bleeping Computer dated April 2018. The same type of hijacking install. The most noticeable difference was the domain name "NewChromeDownload.com."
And then again 21 days ago from this user on Reddit. You guessed it. Same procedure, same structure, different domain name.
And then again about 4 months ago.
If you have to use Windows 10, do not use Bing for search. Ever.Microsoft
There's a pattern here, and it's a disturbing one. How many people have been affected by these short-lived recurring hijacks that Microsoft is letting through to millions of people? It's inexcusable that these types of ads are not properly vetted, especially when the majority of browsers are automatically unsafe.
Isolated issues like this – can not seem significant. But when looking at Windows 10 as a whole, things look considerably darker. Microsoft is letting devastating file-deleting bugs through its Windows Insider testers. The update process is unreliable and compared to operating systems like Ubuntu.
What You Can Do
If you must use Windows 10, go directly to Chrome.com to download Google's browser, or to Mozilla.org for Firefox. Commit those to memory or just open up Edge and browse directly to google.com. I also highly recommend installing a tracking blocker like DuckDuckGo. If you want to use the Edge browser, remove the search engine by following these steps.
At the very least, please do not use Bing to search for anything. Ever. You will probably not be reading this.
I'll update this article with the Bing Ads team.
UPDATE: The Bing Ads Twitter account has removed the malicious ad, and says "Hi Gabriel, we're getting rid of it." https: //bit.ly/2PZWZ1u so we can take appropriate action. "
Is it a top priority? One can only hope Microsoft will be more alert when it comes to recurring problem with Bing.
