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Exploit for Google’s Chrome browser can secretly listen to oblivious users

“Google has been pushing hard to incorporate speech recognition features into Web apps,” Jared Newman reports for PCWorld. “But a Chrome exploit that can secretly transcribe your conversations unless you’re paying attention probably wasn’t what the company had in mind.”

“Whenever a website wants to access your microphone, Chrome requires permission,” Newman reports. “A dialog appears at the top of the browser window, and after you give your OK, an icon appears in the tab area, letting you know the microphone is in use. Close the tab or visit another site, and microphone access is supposed to get cut off.”

Newman reports, “But as Web developer Tal Ater discovered, malicious sites can use pop-under windows to keep listening even after the user has gone to another site or closed the main browser window.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
Why does Google’s Chrome browser ask for your Mac Keychain password? – January 19, 2014
Leaving Google’s Chrome: Why I’ve returned to Apple’s Safari – November 21, 2013
Google has a major security flaw in Chrome browser; accessing passwords is surprisingly easy – August 7, 2013

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