Earlier this year, cybersecurity researchers discovered dozens of attacks involving malicious updates to Google Chrome’s VPN and AI extensions. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself from hacking and data theft.
Earlier this year, cybersecurity researchers discovered dozens of attacks involving malicious updates to Google Chrome’s VPN and AI extensions. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself from hacking and data theft.
ExtensionTotal has released a report saying it found a total of 36 Chrome extensions with data-stealing code. The affected extensions were mostly related to artificial intelligence (AI) tools and virtual private networks (VPNs), The Record reports .
Blogger ThioJoe published a list of Chrome extensions that contain malicious code in a YouTube video. These extensions are used by about 2.6 million users.
Although ExtensionTotal reported that some of the affected companies have already addressed the issue by removing the compromised extensions from the store or updating them, this is not a guarantee of security. It is still not entirely clear whether all of the compromised extensions are related to the hacking threat.
According to cybersecurity researchers, extensions in Google Chrome, like those in other browsers, have deep access to user data, including authenticated sessions and sensitive information, so extensions «should not be treated lightly.» Extensions are also easy to update and often not subject to the same scrutiny as traditional software.
In particular, as Molfar specialists noted, the threat may arise if:
Molfar shared tips on how to protect yourself, because even verified extensions can be «infected.» In particular:
