Hello, dear readers! Today, we dive into the whimsical world of Chrome extensions that might not be as safe as they seem.
Recently, researchers discovered a collection of around 35 dubious extensions on the Chrome Web Store, collectively racking up over 4 million downloads.
But what makes these extensions raise eyebrows? They all seem to share a common code structure and require permissions that allow them to meddle with your web traffic, access your cookies, and even manage your browser tabs.
John Tuckner, the brilliant mind behind this revelation, suggests that any organization using these extensions should consider removing them to safeguard their data.
Interestingly, despite these extensions being unlisted, they managed to gather a significant number of installs. How they did this remains a mystery.
One particular extension, the Fire Shield Extension Protection, claims to inspect your Chrome installations for malicious activity, yet it connects to questionable domains!
What’s more, Tuckner found that the obfuscation in their code made it near impossible to deduce their actual behavior. If that’s not suspicious, we don’t know what is!
While we can’t definitively declare these extensions as malicious, the level of secrecy surrounding their code raises serious alarm bells.
To stay safe, always review extensions and apps before installation. A little vigilance can go a long way in protecting your digital life!