A recent security study showed that some extensions in the Chrome browser, which seem simple and harmless, are doing dangerous things that threaten users’ privacy, highlighting the security weaknesses in the official Chrome store.
According to researchers at cybersecurity company Symantec, some popular add-ons that provide services such as customizing the new tab page, parental controls, or improving search results are spying on users, stealing clipboard content, and impersonating trusted brands, all without the user’s knowledge.
From useful tools to hidden threats
The study indicated that some of these add-ons, used by more than 100,000 people, behave beyond their stated functionality. For example, the “Good Tab” extension presents itself as a new tab customization tool with weather and news displays, but allows an external site to read and write everything a user copies, including passwords and cryptocurrency wallet addresses, without any apparent warning.
Impersonating and misleading users
One notable example was the DPS Websafe add-on, which claimed to provide ad-free search results, but was actually tracking searches and users’ activity. To gain trust, it used icons and tags similar to the well-known “Adblock Plus” tool, before redirecting the search through its servers, opening the door to commercial tracking and manipulation of results.
Security tools that turn into spyware
The Child Protection add-on, promoted as a parental control tool, was collecting cookies to hijack sessions and execute scripts from external servers, behaviors typically associated with malware.
Also, the “Stock Informer” extension, dedicated to tracking stocks and currencies, was redirecting searches for profitable purposes, and contained a security vulnerability that could allow attackers to run code within the browser.
Official store but not completely safe
What’s interesting is that all these extensions passed Google’s review and were available on the official Chrome Store. Although some were later removed, others are still available.
The experts’ main message is clear: The appearance of a helpful or reliable supplement does not necessarily mean it is safe. Every permission you give may allow your data to be leaked to a third party without your knowledge.
Therefore, experts advise users to reduce the number of extensions, carefully review permissions, and not trust any tool just because it is in the Chrome Store.
