‘WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!’ Fake Warning Message

The 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message attempts to install PUP onto your PC by disguising its payload as a general browser update. Due to the frequent occurrence of this form of Web-based hoax, malware experts are unable to identify individual, specific payloads related to the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message. However, the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message and very similar misleading messages often are the initial gateways for attacks by PC threats. If you've had any contact with a 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message whatsoever, you always should consider your PC to be potentially infected until suitable anti-malware software can analyze and, if it's needed, disinfect it.

When Outdated Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

The 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message is a new variant in a long series of drive-by-download attacks crafted to look like patches for popular Web browsers. Unlike the Fake Google Chrome Update or the 'Firefox need to update immediately' Fake Alert, the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message is formatted as an equal-opportunity threat to all Web browsers. Regardless of the version of whatever Web browser you're using, a 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message always will claim that it's outdated and requires the installation of its 'patch.'

This patch isn't an actual update for Chrome, Internet Explorer or other popular browsers; instead, it installs unreliable software onto your PC, with the exact types of threats dependent on the individual attack. In past incidents, malware researchers have seen attacks similar to those of the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message used for installing PC threats, including rootkits, worms and other forms of threats that make crippling your PC's security a high priority.

The Actual Update Warning that You Should Be Heeding

While the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message's main purpose is to trick any victims exposed through unsafe (or hacked) sites into installing its fake update, individual variants of the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message also may include software exploits that may install their payloads without needing your assistance. Many anti-malware products include security features for blocking these kinds of non-consensual downloads, and malware experts also consider it one of many reasons why updating your software with all available security patches always is a commendable habit.

Similar anti-malware tools able to block a drive-by-download of this sort also should be more than able to remove most payloads related to a 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message's successful attack. Nonetheless, suitably cautious browsing habits that take into account an evasion of potentially unreliable websites – along with using only patches from confirmed legitimate sources – always should be your first shield against both the 'WARNING: Your Current Browser Is Outdated!' message and the many similar attacks circulating around the Web.