20 million people have downloaded dangerous Chrome ad blockers
20 million people have downloaded dangerous Chrome ad blockers
Share onDo you use one of these?
Google has removed five ad blockers from the Chrome Web Store after it has become known that the browser extensions collect user data.
Do you use one of these?
Google has removed five ad blockers from the Chrome Web Store after it has become known that the browser extensions collect user data.
20 million downloads
ZDNet reports that the five additions should have been published to be services that block ads in the browser. There are security researchers in the company AdGuard who discovered the fake additions.
In the wake of AdGuard's findings, Google has removed the fake add-ons that over 20 million users downloaded. The most popular addition, AdRemover, had over ten million users.
These are the dangerous additions:
- Adblock pro (copy of legitimate addition).
- Ad Remover for Google Chrome.
- HD for YouTube.
- uBlock Plus. (copy of legitimate addition).
- Webutation.
This is not the first time it reveals malicious apps in the Chrome Web Store. Earlier this year, Trend Micro 89 discovered additional features that could snap up the credit card information to the users. One of the additions had been downloaded over 400,000 times.