If you use the Google browser, Chrome, to navigate or even work every day, it is very likely that you have installed dozens of extensions. The usual thing is that they serve to make our lives easier. We talk, for example, of taking screenshots, accessing Google documents offline or re-implementing functions that are not available in the official media or services.
So far so good, if it weren't for the fact that certain criminals have taken advantage of Chrome extensions to commit all kinds of outrages. Last year, without going any further, we told you that malicious extensions had been able to infect thousands of users on Chrome. Even the official extension of MEGA would have served to obtain privileged information from users without their consent.
Things were made worse by the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which more than 80 million accounts were leaked through a third-party app. From that moment on, technology companies began to look closely at the permissions granted to other companies and apply stricter controls to locate and eliminate those that accessed user information outside of the law.
Do you want to know which extensions for Chrome are dangerous?
We've already told you that it's no wonder malicious or unsafe extensions creep into Chrome . It is more common than we would like, so we recommend that you be especially cautious when installing them or keeping their permissions accepted. To see how things are, you will have to access the Extensions section of Chrome.
1. Open the Chrome browser and click on the three buttons at the top right of the page.
2. From here choose More Tools> Extensions .
3. What you will see next is a panel with all the extensions that you have installed in Chrome, that is, all of which you have given permission to access your information. Review them well. Although, you should know that Google will have done it for you too .
4. It is possible that, if Google has detected that any of the extensions you have installed is dangerous, you will see a warning in red like this: This extension violates the Chrome Web Store policy .
Remove dangerous extensions in Chrome
If you see that any of the extensions to which you have given permissions involves some kind of danger, the most sensible thing is that you delete it permanently. From this first control screen you can click the Delete button . Another thing you can do, if you don't want to delete it, is deactivate it.
For this, you will only need to move the switch, so that it is gray. If it is in blue, it means that the extension is active. If you want to know more about the characteristics of the extension and its purpose (this will come in handy if you are one of those who have installed dozens and dozens of extensions that you no longer remember or what they were for), you can click on the Details button.
We recommend you access this section to check what permissions you have granted to the extension. Especially if they are usernames, passwords or other more confidential data. In fact, there are extensions that may have asked your permission to read your browsing history . If you don't see it clearly, hit the Delete button and forget about the problem.
Scroll down to find the option: Remove extension. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the applications that are in quarantine. If you see any other that you will not need, take the opportunity to clean up.