Can chrome extensions be dangerous

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Editor's take: The Chrome Web Store offers numerous tools for extension developers to publish and promote their creations. However, what it should not enable is the misuse of these tools to provide authors with manipulative tactics that push extensions in unexpected or inappropriate contexts. Despite the forced transition to Manifest V3, Chrome extensions remain as dangerous and malicious as ever. Rogue developers can disguise their creations as legitimate extensions still using the older Manifest V2 technology or exploit Chrome Web Store's translation system to appear in unrelated search results by Chrome users.This latest tactic was recently discovered by security researcher Wladimir Palant, who detailed his findings in an eye-opening post. While searching for the "Norton Password Manager" extension on the Chrome Web Store, Palant encountered numerous seemingly unrelated results. Upon investigating, he uncovered a clever manipulation campaign actively pushing users to install low-quality or even malicious code.The core issue identified by Palant lies in how the Chrome Web Store manages translations and related metadata. Official Chrome Web Store policies explicitly prohibit search result manipulation, yet hundreds of extensions are flagrantly violating these rules to secure undeserved visibility and promotion.Some developers have discovered that the Chrome Web Store search index is shared across all languages, according to Palant. This allows them to "sacrifice" descriptions in less popular languages by embedding them with keyword-packed text. When users search the CWS, these keywords boost the visibility of malicious extensions, even if the extensions are programmed to perform entirely unrelated functions.Palant identified 920 Chrome extensions exploiting this malicious technique to manipulate CWS search results. These extensions can be traced back to a few "clusters," suggesting they were likely created by a small group of developers familiar with the

Everyone who uses Chrome has at least one Chrome extension installed, even if it's just an adblocker. But few realize that many of these nifty little tools can also pose a major security risk, allowing malicious actors into their devices. Here's how to separate the good extensions from the bad ones and how to implement security measures, such as a VPN, to ensure safe browsing. Some would argue that Chrome is the gold standard of web browsers today - and it is one of the most popular browsers out there for sure. Even in 2019, with dozens of other browser options, Chrome is still leading the pack with a 55.4% market share. This popularity can be attributed to its secure infrastructure, Google account syncing, and impressive extension ecosystem.The latter gives Chrome a ton of flexibility and user-freedom since extensions allow people to tweak their browser experience to their preferences. But, at the same time, these extensions also pose a considerable threat, because they can be created by anyone. Google has a verification process in place for extensions on their own store, but it doesn't catch everything. As has become glaringly obvious from the massive "DataSpii" leak earlier this year.And while Google is doing their best to make sure that only safe browser extensions make it onto the webstore, it's still not enough. Once installed, these extensions have the potential to see and track everything a Chrome user does online. They don't necessarily do that, but they can.What Are Chrome Extensions?Extensions are programs that change or enhance the functionality of a browser in some way. Users can install these extensions to tailor their browsing experience to their needs. For instance, many marketers use extensions to track their emails, optimize their schedule, and find new customers. There's virtually no limit to what extensions can do. Although they usually don't have a UI of their own and rely on Chrome's interface to work.There is a permission system in place to keep extensions from doing pretty much whatever they want, which helps in theory. Problem is, this system is only good if it's used - whereas most people tend to ignore permissions when installing an extension.Permissions might not even be used for nefarious reasons by the extension itself, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. Because anything is hackable, and there's no guarantee that the code in a trustworthy extension is completely secure.This is why it's important to exercise discernment when installing any Chrome extension, even if it looks secure.When Chrome Extensions Become DangerousThere are a plethora of examples out there that showcase how malicious browser extensions can affect those who download them. For example, Google recently removed four popular extensions from its web store that posed as sticky note apps. In reality, these malicious extensions were clicking on pay-per-click ads in the background to generate revenue.That did not impact the users negatively, but it could have. Like the malicious extension that was spread through Facebook Messenger back in 2017.Extensions don't have to

Quick Answera) Help improve security on the web for everyone- When you enable this toggle, Chrome sends URLs of some pages that you visit, system info and some page content to Google, that helps in discovering new threats and protecting everyone else on the internet.Chrome sends URLs to Google Safe Browsing alongside a small sample of pages, downloads, extension activity, and system info to help discover new threats and thus improves security for you as well as everyone else on the internet.In this article, we are going to explain these levels of safe browsing in Google Chrome and also tell you which is the best level for you.Google introduced Safe Browsing feature for Chrome back in May 2020 to offer its users a secure experience while surfing the internet. The feature is available for Chrome on Android as well as on PC. Google offers some levels of safe browsing which include standard, enhanced and no protection at all. In this article, we are going to explain these levels of safe browsing in Google Chrome and also tell you which is the best level for you.Also, read | 2 Ways to Stop Chrome From Asking to ‘Save password’ on WebsitesLevels of Safe Browsing in Google Chrome1. Enhanced protectionThis is the first level of safe browsing in Chrome and it is recommended to everyone because of its features. It offers faster, proactive protection against dangerous websites, downloads, as well as extensions. This feature automatically warns you about password breaches and sends browsing data to Google in case of any data or password theft.This feature has some added security features such as:It can predict about dangerous events whole browsing and warns you before anything bad happens to you.Apart from keeping you safe on Chrome, it can also be used to improve your security in other Google apps when you are signed in with your Google account.This feature links the security breach data to your Google Account, so when you’re signed in, it can protect you across Google apps.With this feature, Chrome also warns you if your passwords are exposed in an online data breach.Chrome sends URLs to Google Safe Browsing alongside a small sample of pages, downloads, extension activity, and system info to help discover new threats and thus improves security for you as well as everyone else on the internet.Also, read | How to Generate Secure Passwords Using Chrome2. Standard protectionThe standard protection protects you against dangerous websites, downloads, and extensions. It also has some extra security features:This feature will detect and warn you about dangerous online events whenever they happen to you.With this enabled, Google checks URLs with a list of unsafe websites stored in Chrome.Also, when a site tries to

To keep your data private, Google Chrome uses Safe Browsing to protect you against: Abusive websites and extensions Malicious and intrusive ads Malware Phishing Social engineeringHow Safe Browsing works Standard protection With standard protection, Chrome checks the sites that you go to, the extensions that you have installed and the files that you attempt to download against Google's list of unsafe sites and downloads. Sites and downloads on this list are associated with abusive websites and extensions, malicious and intrusive ads, malware, phishing and social engineering. Chrome periodically downloads and stores the most recent copy of this list on your device. It also stores a list of sites known to be safe. Each time that you visit a website or attempt a download, Chrome first checks if the URL is on the list of safe sites stored on your device. If it's not, Chrome sends an obfuscated portion of the URL to Google through a privacy server that hides your IP address. If Google confirms that the website or download is malicious, Chrome warns you that it may be dangerous. If you have an abusive or malicious extension installed, Chrome disables it. In some cases, if the request to the privacy server fails or you're browsing in Incognito mode, the site gets checked against the list of unsafe sites stored on your device instead of the list stored with Google. In these cases, if there's evidence of suspicious behaviour, Chrome sends an obfuscated portion of the URL to Google. In addition to the protections described above, Chrome will send a report to Google if it finds suspicious page behaviour or suspicious actions that you may have been tricked into performing. For example, when you enter a previously saved password on a new site, Chrome checks with Google to determine whether the page might be phishing, a type of social engineering attack used to steal your data. If it's determined that the site is phishing, Chrome asks you to check or change your password. Sites are checked for phishing and social engineering terms. Chrome sends a small set of visual features to Google and compares the site to a list of dangerous sites to determine whether it's malicious. Some security features are disabled in Incognito to prevent revealing additional data to Google. Enhanced protection Enhanced protection sends more information about your activity to Google in real time to offer stronger, more