Beware! Fake Update Request from Firefox Is a Virus!

By Michelle Denio, Technical Support Supervisor, Bryley Systems

Thanks to a vigilant Bryley Systems client, we can now alert you to a new malware threat.
A Bryley client submitted a service ticket about a Firefox update on his home computer. I was immediately suspicious because the supposed update had come through as a java script file type (.JS), instead of an executable (.exe). Luckily Outlook had blocked the attachment and our client, who was cautious, did exactly what he was supposed to do. He brought it to our attention!

While it appeared to come from Firefox, our research easily determined that this update request is fake and is in fact a virus.

Here are the two links I found on Mozilla:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/i-found-fake-firefox-update
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1137056

Below is what the fake request looks like. I’ve underlined and circled the source of the update request so you can see that it did not actually come from Firefox. Looking at the source is one of the first steps you should always take when you’re unsure about the validity of an email or a pop-up message. Had our client clicked on the Download, this hacker would have been able to install malware on our client’s computer.