Please upgrade as soon as possible. Users of Google Chrome browser and Firefox Firefox browser should be on guard against spyware Heliconia.

CTOnews.com, December 2 (Xinhua)-- Google threat Analysis Group (TAG) warned on Wednesday that corporate spyware Heliconia is taking advantage of vulnerabilities in Google's Chrome browser, Firefox Firefox and Microsoft Defender security software to steal user data.

The Google TAG team said it found the framework in an anonymous Chrome error report, with instructions and source code called "Heliconia Noise", "Heliconia Soft" and "Files".

After analyzing the error report, the TAG team identified that the developer behind it may be Variston IT, a security company based in Barcelona, Spain, but the latter has not responded.

CTOnews.com learned that these three components perform the following functions: Heliconia Noise is a network framework for deploying a vulnerability (now fixed) in the Chrome browser renderer to escape the browser's sandboxie blockade; Heliconia Soft is a network framework for deploying Windows Defender's PDF vulnerability; and Files is a set of Firefox vulnerabilities for Linux and Windows.

Google, Microsoft and Mozilla fixed the vulnerability in 2021 and early 2022, and users should not be affected if they have upgraded to the latest version, the TAG team said. TAG also added a Heliconia detection mechanism to Google's secure browsing service and urged Internet users to keep their browsers and software updated.