Have you ever added an extension to your Chrome web browser? Extensions are available in the Chrome Web Store, and offer numerous helpful features, such spelling/grammar, finding deals, storing passwords, or blocking ads. But they may also come with security risks if you鈥檙e not careful. So always think twice before installing an extension.

Risks of Chrome Extensions

  • Privacy and Data Theft -听When you add extensions to your Chrome browser, a warning that the extension might get access to your data may appear. Even if you don鈥檛 get a warning about data access, thousands of extensions have collected data they shouldn鈥檛 have collected over the years, and we鈥檙e only just learning about it.
  • Malicious Software - Some bad actors put malicious extensions in the Chrome Web Store. Recently, nearly 3 million devices were found to be infected by malware-laced Chrome extensions.

How to Protect Yourself

  1. Do your research. Search the web to see if there are any concerning reports about an extension before you hit 鈥淎dd to Chrome.鈥�
  2. Uninstall extensions you don鈥檛 need.听Look at your Chrome Extension settings, and remove any extensions that you don鈥檛 use regularly.

Resources

  • (Google)
  • (Google)
  • (Business 2 Community)
  • (ARS Technica)
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