Clickjacking Affects All Browsers

Learn More About Clickjacking

Technical news mags such as ZDnet report that clickjacking may be a serious threat that affects any Internet browser.

Clickjacking from the Layperson's Perspective

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 occurs without your knowledge.

Typically, webcams are hijacked, but the clickjacking code can affect other areas of your computer equipment. For instance, your sound system or microphone can be exploited, or your PC 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 Safe?

Clickjacking is a malicious code that affects virtually all Internet browsers. There is no quick fix, such as disabling javascript.

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 I visited was blocked to some degree because of YouTube videos, javascript coding or ads installed on the page.  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).

There's a little bit of good news for Google publishers and advertisers. Adsense is 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 indeed a serious threat and script blocking solutions are the only way to fight back, then I can see online advertising taking a big hit. Adserver Plus, Doubleclick and other big ad networks were blocked by the No Script 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. It is possible that the threat is not as bad as some would claim.

The NotGuru blog has posted some videos that show exactly how clickjacking works and how to install fixes.