A massive undercover surveillance data pipe was recently outed by the cybersecurity firm Awake Security.
The full list ofall 111 malicious extensions can be found here.
If you do, its still best to confine your installations to extensions hosted on your browsers official store.
When in doubt, dont install itor go searching around for a more well-known alternative.
Similarly, extensions that perform a redundant or unnecessary task should be avoided at all costs.
Pretty much every extension listed in Awake Securitys report asked for at least one sketchy or over-reaching permission.
If you dont feel comfortable with what its asking, click Cancel to stop the installation.
And if you ever suspect an extension youre using of malicious activity, report it immediately.
The privacy policy should be linked in the extensions store description or available on the publishing companys official website.
If its unclear or you cant find that information, then dont install it.
And if youdofind a privacy policy, should you trust it?
However, theydoneed to be approached with extra caution.
Many perfectly safe extensions are available from independent developers on places like theXDA forumsor GitHub.
And if you have no idea what youre looking for, do your research: Read some forums.
See if anyone else has raised any red flags about the extension you want to installbeforeyou install it.
