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Ask HN: Why is Firefox installer listed as harmful file in Chrome?
Example: https://imgur.com/a/XMeiO4D
Is it only me? Is something is wrong with Firefox installer?
I'm trying to download Firefox from official mozilla website and Chrome says that the file is harmful. For reference it's not the .dmg extension because if I go to Chrome and download googlechrome.dmg it gets downloaded without any problems.
- Firerouge 7y agoI wouldn't be surprised if it is based on the extension, with exceptions for some specific trusted domains/downloads
- martin1b 7y agoLike the old adage : "Excel isn't done until Lotus won't run.'
- smacktoward 7y agoNonono, you've got the saying wrong. It was "DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run." The old Microsoft wouldn't bother competing at the app level if they could just kneecap the competition at the platform level instead.
- mikl 7y agoPretty sure Chrome says that for all .dmg files, not just Firefox.
- steve1977 7y agoWell, it is harmful for Google.
- oxguy3 7y agoI just tested and I got warnings for neither file. Maybe they warned you for the first .dmg, but didn't warn you again for Chrome because they'd already warned you about .dmg files?
- jammygit 7y agoIsn’t this libel to some extent?
- jolmg 7y ago> For reference it's not the .dmg extension because if I go to Chrome and download googlechrome.dmg it gets downloaded without any problems. That doesn't mean it's not the extension, as they may have somehow whitelisted their own files. I would expect that warning to come up with any file format that can carry executable code.
- proactivesvcs 7y agoUS English Firefox for mac OS looks pretty clean, according to VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d0bd62e9b57062e3cb04ac05444ba3856d2c1fc5d4f079eb4233a3053d1c1bb5/detection https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d0bd62e9b57062e3cb04ac05... I wonder if Chrome is including the Mac sandbox, which is listed, in its decision to label the installer as unsafe?
- gjvnq 7y agoChrome often list executable files as harmful IFF they are downloaded via HTTP instead of HTTPS.
- tim333 7y agoDunno - I just tried it in Chrome on a Mac, same site and didn't get a warning. Computers eh?
- genothomas 7y agoYes, it is harmful to Google.
- romeroa9 7y agoI think google don't like it
- jetti 7y agoI'm running Mojave (10.14.6) and just tried to download Firefox using Chrome 78.0.3904.108 and was not prompted at all.