How to calculate the dangerous extensions in Chrome
Browsers / / December 19, 2019
Many believe that if an extension or app published in the App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Store or Mozilla Add-ons directory, it has been tested and is safe. Unfortunately, this is not so.
adding a mechanism of the Chrome Web Store is automated. So the store is constantly seeping malicious extensions. Let's see how to avoid installing them.
Why Chrome extensions can be dangerous
The Chrome Web Store a huge number of extensions. Many of them are simply useless or duplicate each other's functions. And some - frankly harmful. according to the reportOver 20,000,000 of Chrome Users are Victims of Fake Ad BlockersPublished AdGuard, more than 20 million Chrome users install fake ad-blocking software. And the expansion of mining used to hide, have picked up over the past two monthsMalicious Chrome extensions infect 100,000-plus users, again 100 000.
Why fake extensions can be used? They can steal your confidential data, passwords and credit card numbers. And the ability Mein cryptocurrency in your browser or integrate infected computers into botnets.
Try to score as AdBlock in the Chrome Web Store search and see how many there will extensions. Now guess which of them is useful, and what - no.
What you need to check before installing extensions
Popularity expansion
The expansion of the more popular the better. If one extension is more than 10 million users, while its counterpart does not reach and 10 thousand - the choice is obvious. The phrase about the millions of flies do not apply here.
For the most popular extensions are big companies or the community, who value their users. They should be trusted more than a single developer.
Unscrupulous executors can win the trust users choosing a name similar to the designations respectable extensions. So watch carefully to the name has been written correctly.
Description expansion
Before installing the new extension, read the description. Study it in its entirety. If it is misspelled, then it probably is a student hack or malware expansion.
Of course, well-written description does not guarantee safety. But this is an important point to which you should pay attention.
website Developer
The Chrome Web Store developer name is usually just called extension. Click on it and look at the creator's website. If it is missing, or, as they say, are laid out "on the knee" is a bad sign.
It should carefully review the section About us or "About us" on the developer's website, if available. So you have at least an idea of the authors of the extension.
Reviews in the Chrome Web Store
Now read the reviews to expand that leave users Chrome Web Store. Few reviews - bad. The abundance of negative reviews - it is bad. A number of similar reviews in the spirit of "The Best!", "All the rock!" - is also not very good. This may be the result of cheating.
Information about the extension of the Internet
Before installing worth Googling the name extensions most useful and popular are often glimpsed in the news, and reviews. Layfhaker, for example, regularly publishes a selection of the best Extensions for Chrome. This also involved in many other major sites.
Permissions
In Chrome, there is a system of access rights. It shows what actions your browser is going to perform one or another extension. Approximately the same system operates in Android when installing new applications.
When you install the extension, do not be lazy to look, to which it requests access. Bad if you do not pay attention to this point. After all, if you install some kind of extension for rapid image search, and it asks for access to your mail.google.com - is alarming bell.
Source
Yes, this option is not for everyone. However, those who are versed in the creation of extensions for the Chrome, is worth a look at the source code installed add-on (if it is open). That expansion of open source is always more credible.
Check your extensions regularly
Open your list of extensions and check it right away. Cases when the developers of popular extensions are selling their less conscientious owners. Several years ago, it happened with the expansion Add to Feedly, which after the change of ownership began to show advertising.
Do you use some expansion for several years, and even forget that you have it? Check it out. Read reviews, zaguglit name. Maybe it was useless or harmful?
And remember: the fewer extensions, the better for your privacy and productivity browser. Install only, without which can not do without.
see also
- 6 easy ways to protect your browser from → threats
- 22 useful extensions for Beginners →
- 7 extensions for Gmail, which will save you time →