Earlier this year, Google removed two extensions from the Chrome Web Store for containing the "Superfish" adware. The truth is, this problem has been going on for a couple years now, and it's affecting far more Chrome extensions than the two that Google removed. There are still many extensions still infected with this crap. The problem is, that Google doesn't monitor the extensions once they pass the initial approval to be listed on Chrome Web Store. So basically at any time, a developer can push an "update" out to their extension that installs the adware/malware on Chrome. As of right now, almost all of the antivirus programs out there don't detect this either, and since it's embedded in the extensions themselves, it's very time consuming to narrow it down to which one that has it. I just found another one recently in the "Quick Javascript Switcher" extension. I don't think this one was "Superfish", but it was some other kind of malware that was hijacking Google's search results. After every search on Google it was taking me to some temporary interstitial page before taking me to the actual search results. Plus the layout of the Google search results was different, it looked like the old Google layout with the black bar at the top, which they changed months ago.
That's why I don't use Chrome. A lot of viruses I got I am quite confident were from when I was using the browser. Sure Chrome is fast but it never seemed worth it to me so I stick with good old Firefox.
I'm always wary of these extensions. There were rumors I heard of a guy who installed some extension on his browser which had a malicious script of some kind that auto-installed some software and next thing he gets is a warning that his computer is infected. Pretty risky these extensions can prove to be.
I'm surprised that Chrome lets this stuff get through. You would think with a company as large as Google they'd have a scanner to check what goes through to the app store. Thanks for the notification, although I don't download anything unless I double check the reviews, how popular it is, and whether the advertisement looks professional.
It doesn't really surprise me. I haven't trusted Google since they messed up YouTube. I would imagine that they get lazy because they have so much money rolling in already.
Yes, Chrome today is kinda loose when it comes to their security, I mean, just the past week in fact I had to, yet again, get rid of the Gadgetbox adware on my Chrome (what it does is it changes your default search engine and and installs some crap softwares on your computer) But Chrome is the fastest browser out there and I don't think I'd be able to replace is as of now, so I suggest you just install a good anti-malware and anti-virus software.
I have been reading about the customization for Google Chrome. I didn't know what the fuss was about. I most recently just started using other search engines to support the NaNoWriMo, with Goodsearch. I previously didn't have an alternative to Google search, and it manages all of my searches on almost all of my device. I think what Google is doing is it is diversifying its search algorithms. Custom search features for custom purposes, I guess. With Google it's the ad targeting that I like the most. The ad suggestions they gave me are the ones that I would most likely click on.
Opera and Firefox are my favourite browsers. I've never liked chrome, even preferring IE over it. I never even found it that fast, and there was always hassle with adware etc.
For this reason I hardly use any extensions besides Adblock. To be honest many extensions have pretty limited/niche applicability, I'd switch to Firefox instead for the time being. I'm sticking with Chrome because it still feels like the faster browser and because of Google account integration.
Good thing that I was never a fan of browser extensions, so the risk of me having malware in my pc is less likely. I only have 2 extensions in my Chrome browser right now. Having too many extensions can slow down your pc.
Same here. That's why I don't really go outside of the proven applications and just stick with Firefox. It works well for just about anything, even though it was being really buggy for a few days before I updated Shockwave as suggested on a help website. Now it's back to working perfect as it should be. Totally recommend Firefox.
