A Interesting Free Software: FreeVPN

August 28, 2025

No AI. Just a dinobaby working the old-fashioned way.

I often hear about the wonders of open source software. Even an esteemed technologist like Pavel Durov offers free and open source software. He wants to make certain aspects of Telegram transparent. “Transparent” is a popular word in some circles. China releases Qwen and it is free. The commercial variants are particularly stimulating. Download free and open source software. If you run into a problem, just fix it yourself. Alternatively you can pay for “commercial for fee” support. Choice! That’s the right stuff.

I read “Chrome VPN Extension with 100K Installs Screenshots All Sites Users Visit.” Note: By the time you read this, the Googlers may have blocked this extension or the people who rolled out this digital Trojan horse may have modified the extension’s behavior to something slightly less egregious.

Now back to the Trojan horse with a saddle blanket displaying the word “spyware.” I quote:

FreeVPN.One, a Chrome extension with over 100,000 installs and a verified badge on the Chrome Web Store, is exposed by researchers for taking screenshots of users’ screens and exfiltrating them to remote servers. A Koi Security investigation of the VPN tool reveals that it has been capturing full-page screenshots from users’ browsers, logging sensitive visual data like personal messages, financial dashboards, and private photos, and uploading it to aitd[.]one, a domain registered by the extension’s developer.

The explanation makes clear that one downloads and installs or activates a Chrome extension. Then the software sends data to the actor deploying the malware.

The developer says:

The extension’s developer claimed to Koi Security that the background screenshot functionality is part of a “security scan” intended to detect threats.

Whom does one believe? The threat detection outfit or the developer.

Can you recall a similar service? Hint: Capitalize the “r” in “Recall.”

Can the same stealth (clumsy stealth in some cases) exist in other free software? Does a jet air craft stay aloft when its engines fail?

Stephen E Arnold, August 28, 2025

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under cybersecurity, News, Privacy

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.