All Browsers Potentially Threatened by Clickjacking
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Technical news mags such as ZDnet report that clickjacking may be a serious threat that affects any Internet 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 an item on the supposedly safe page, your computer is clickjacked by malicious code which then hijacks your pc’s accessories or other components.This happens without your knowledge.
Generally, webcams are hijacked, but clickjacking is not limited to affecting a cam. Your microphone or sound system can be exploited, for example, or your computer can be taken over in other ways.
Adobe’s Flash Player was especially vulnerable to clickjacking, but Adobe has come out with a fix to address the issue.
What Browsers are Affected?
Clickjacking is a malicious code that affects virtually all Internet browsers. Merely disabling javascript will not fix it.
A “No Script” add-on that works with Firefox is the only known solution.
Problems with the Clickjacking Fix
After using No Script for a week or so, I disabled it because it made web surfing a chore. Every site that I visited was blocked to some degree or another because the site contained YouTube videos, ads or javascript coding. 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).
Google’s Adsense is one of the few advertising networks that are automatically whitelisted by the No Script add-on. Most of the others will need to be manually approved, and it is unlikely that the average Internet user will know that an ad is safe enough to whitelist.
If clickjacking is truly the threat that some would say that it is, and if solutions such as No Script are the only way to fight back, I can see that this situation will kill online advertising. Even the big boys’ ads, such as those delivered by Adserver Plus, 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.
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