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SY0-501 · Question #491

A technician is investigating a potentially compromised device with the following symptoms: Browser slowness Frequent browser crashes Hourglass stuck New search toolbar Increased memory consumption…

The correct answer is A. Man-in-the-browser. The symptoms described - browser slowness, crashes, frozen hourglass, new search toolbar, and increased memory - are classic indicators of a Man-in-the-browser (MitB) attack, which injects malicious code directly into the browser process.

Submitted by kev92· Mar 4, 2026Threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigations

Question

A technician is investigating a potentially compromised device with the following symptoms:

Browser slowness Frequent browser crashes Hourglass stuck New search toolbar Increased memory consumption Which of the following types of malware has infected the system?

Options

  • AMan-in-the-browser
  • BSpoofer
  • CSpyware
  • DAdware

How the community answered

(61 responses)
  • A
    77% (47)
  • B
    13% (8)
  • C
    3% (2)
  • D
    7% (4)

Why each option

The symptoms described - browser slowness, crashes, frozen hourglass, new search toolbar, and increased memory - are classic indicators of a Man-in-the-browser (MitB) attack, which injects malicious code directly into the browser process.

AMan-in-the-browserCorrect

Man-in-the-browser malware operates by injecting itself into the browser process, hooking browser APIs to manipulate web sessions in real time. This injection causes excessive memory consumption, browser instability (crashes and slowness), and can install unauthorized toolbars or redirect search engines. The hourglass being stuck reflects the browser's CPU/memory being consumed by the malicious injected code.

BSpoofer

A Spoofer is a technique used to falsify the origin of network traffic or communications (e.g., IP or DNS spoofing) and does not manifest as browser performance degradation or unauthorized toolbar installation.

CSpyware

Spyware silently collects user data and transmits it to a third party without the user's knowledge, but it does not typically cause visible browser crashes, toolbar injections, or the hourglass freezing symptom described.

DAdware

Adware primarily generates unwanted advertisements and may slow a system over time, but it does not typically cause frequent browser crashes, a stuck hourglass, or the level of memory consumption described in this scenario.

Concept tested: Identifying Man-in-the-browser malware symptoms

Source: https://www.comptia.org/content/guides/what-is-malware

Topics

#man-in-the-browser#malware identification#browser hijacking#trojan

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