From Lifehacker, a reminder about how to check your Chrome Add-ons for Adware or Malware. For more information on how this happens, read Many Browser Extensions Have Become Adware or Malware.
This week, Ars Technica and How-To Geek released some pretty startling news: a lot of browser extensions are either injecting ads into the sites you… Read…
Chrome: ExtShield is a new extension that will let you know if you’re running one of the Chrome add-ons that’s been flagged as adware in disguise so you can remove it. Plus, as the community blacklists grow, the extension will update with new information to keep you safe.P
ExtShield (formerly Chrome Protector) is brand new, but it already knows about the most popular and commonly used extensions mentioned at How-To Geek’s updating list. Once installed (and yes, the add-on asks for a lot of permissions), it will notify you if you install something that’s tracking your activity, and you can click it at any time to check the extensions you have installed currently against its blacklist. The developer plans to add in new features like notifying you if an extension starts to behave oddly, or if there’s been a change in ownership (or TOS) of an extension you have installed in the Chrome Web Store.P
Of course, this is trust issue: How do you trust an add-on that’s telling you what other add-ons you can or can’t trust? Well, we took a look at its code and didn’t see anything fishy, but since Chrome extensions can be updated automatically without the user noticing, we’d understand if you’re skeptical of a new extension from an unknown developer that promises to keep you safe. Still, if keeping up with the blacklists is too much for you, or you want something to warn you that an add-on you’ve installed may be spying on you, ExtShield is a good start, if not a bit ironic.P
Update: The new version of the extension, now called ExtShield, is up and available in the Web Store at the link below! P
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