NCC Warns  Against Google Chrome Extensions

The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has warned against five malicious Google Chrome Extensions that surreptitiously track online browsers’ activities and steal their data.
NCC’s Director of Public Affairs (DPA), Mr Reuben Muoka, made this known in a statement in  Abuja which was made available to The Tide’s source at the weekend.
Muoka said the five malicious extensions were discovered by the McAfee Mobile Research Team.
According to him, they Netflix Party with 800,000 downloads, Netflix Party 2 with 300,000 downloads, and Full Page Screenshot Capture Screenshotting with 200,000 downloads.
Others are FlipShope Price Tracker Extension with 80,000 downloads and AutoBuy Flash Sales with 20,000 downloads.
“The five google chrome extensions identified have a high probability, damage potential and have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, while they serve as access to steal users’ data.
“The telecom sector-focused cybersecurity protection team alerted telecom consumers to be cautious when installing any browser extension”, he said.
The DPA  NCC-CSIRT stated that, although the google team removed several browser extensions from its Chrome Web Store, keeping malicious extensions out may be difficult.
He, however, said the NCC-CSIRT thus recommended that telecom consumers observe caution when installing any browser extension.
“This include removing all listed extensions from their chrome browser manually. Internet users are to pay close attention to the promptings from their browser extensions, such as the permission to run on any website visited and the data requested before installing it.
“Although some extensions are seemingly legit due to the high number of user downloads, these hazardous add-ons make it imperative for users to ascertain the authenticity of extensions they access”, he said.