100+ malicious extensions in Chrome junked

NEW DELHI: Technology giant Google has removed over 100 malicious Chrome extensions which were found collecting sensitive data by taking screenshots of the user’s screen and harvesting keystrokes to read passwords and other confidential information.
According to an advisory issued by India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) last week, these malicious extensions posed as “tools to improve web searches, convert files between different formats, as security scanners, and more.” An extension is a small software that helps users in customising a web browser.
They can be used for several purposes, including blocking cookies, playing games and creating shortcuts.
CERT-In added that these extensions bypassed Google Chrome Web Store security scans, and had the “ability to take screenshots, read the clipboard, harvest authentication cookies or grab keystrokes to read passwords and other confidential information.” “Even when we are not using the web extension, they can still keep a track of our web activity,” said cyber security expert Rakshit Tandon.