Chrome Ad Blockers That Can Hack You

The Chrome web browser is used by more Internet users in the world than any other, according to statistics from StatCounter. Chrome is used by 57.69% of users. Safari follows with 14.79%. Next is UC Browser with 7.35%. Then Firefox with 5.4%, Opera with 3.65%, and IE with 3.13%. Many Internet users are happy with the ability to choose the browser they want to use as opposed to using whatever happens to come with the computers and devices that they buy. The faster the browser, the better. And if it can block annoying pop-ups and ads, it’s pretty much a dream come true.

But 20 million Chrome users who have downloaded ad blocking extensions may have been hacked as a result. In his blog, co-founder of AdGuard Andrey Meshkov wrote about how he discovered that five Chrome extensions were malicious choices for ad blocking services. These are AdRemover for Google Chrome™ with over 10 million users, uBlock Plus with over 8 million users, Adblock Pro with 2 million users, HD for YouTube™ with over 400,000 users, and Webutation with over 30,000 users.

These extensions were in violation of Google policy, but nevertheless were there for users to download and being installed on unsuspecting user devices. Meshkov told Vice Media's tech-culture channel Motherboard that although he didn’t know what data was being collected for, links to remote servers are concerning since this can modify browse behavior and make users and their computers vulnerable.

Google has since removed these ad blockers and Meshkov suggests downloading extensions from links found on developers websites, but this story serves as yet another example of how difficult it is to ensure the safety of your data when Internet connections are involved.

According to technical support site Computer Hope, some ways to keep safe while on the Internet are to use safe passwords, keep operating systems and software up to date, exercise caution with links and attachments in email, enable two-factor authentication, and verify that data is encrypted.

Demand for data protection is strong and many solutions are being developed. One promising solution for data security is IDM, a post-quantum data protection system with SIZE technology. SIZE is vastly superior to the U.S. government standard AES-256 encryption system. In a time when hackers are out to get access to our digital information, it’s important that we keep our data safe and this is what IDM is here to help us do. To find out more about this security solution, visit www.myidm.io.

Sources: Google Chrome, StatCounter, AdGuard, Vice Motherboard, TechRepublic, Computer Hope