Google has removed more than 500 malicious extensions from the Chrome Web Store. This action by Google followed an investigation conducted by security researcher Jamila Kaya. This investigation revealed that the malicious extensions were loading malicious ads while users were browsing. Specifically, users were being redirected to specific websites through the malicious ads introduced by the extensions.
In most cases, the results page was malicious, such as a phishing or a malware download site. The extensions in question were part of a malware operation that has been active for the past two years. The malvertising aimed to steal personal data without their knowledge. It also appears that the group behind the malicious Google Chrome extensions has been carrying out such activities since 2010.
There were, of course, cases where the results page turned out to be legitimate. Typical examples include Dell, BestBuy, and Macys.
Specifically, researchers discovered about 71 malicious extensions in Google Chrome, with about 2 million downloads. However, it later turned out that at least 430 other extensions were also malicious.
According to the research, users did not pay much attention to malicious ads and redirects loaded by these extensions, which demonstrates the chaos, misinformation, and ignorance that prevails on the Internet.
Google has decided to take action by removing the extensions from its official web store. It has also disabled the extensions in the user's browser. In addition, the company has labeled the extensions as "malicious" in Chrome so that users can avoid re-enabling them.
