Hundreds of millions of Chrome browser users have been infected with malware through an extension.

Up to 280 million Google Chrome users are facing security risks due to the installation of extensions.

Over the past three years, more than 280 million Chrome users have downloaded extensions infected with malware.

Stanford University and the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security have just published research showing that from July 2020 to February 2023, 346 million users installed extensions containing malicious code. This included 280 million Google Chrome extensions containing malware, 63 million extensions violating policies, and 3 million extensions that were vulnerable to attacks. At that time, nearly 125,000 extensions were already available in the Chrome Store.

The experts collected data by parsing the *.json file of each extension. These files were then broken down into permission requests related to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) such as memory, cookies, and servers, such as URLs or URL patterns.

"Unsurprisingly, extensions often tend to request more permissions than necessary. The more permissions an extension has, the greater the potential for attack," the research team stated.

Furthermore, the report also points out the worrying fact that extensions containing malware often remain in the system for an average of 380 days before being detected and removed. According to Forbes , this prolonged presence on browsers increases the risk of data theft, and the amount of data stolen also increases.

Furthermore, the research team also stated that as of May 2024, nearly 1% of all Google Chrome extension installations contained malware. According to statistics from the search giant, more than 250,000 extensions are available on the Chrome web store, more than any other browser.

Google also suggests four ways users can reduce the risk of downloading malware. These include reviewing the information extensions collect before installation; uninstalling extensions that are no longer in use; limiting the websites extensions can access; and enabling Advanced Protection when browsing if needed.

According to Statcounter, as of the end of May 2024, Google Chrome remained the dominant browser with over 3.2 billion users. On computers, the browser held a market share of approximately 64.87%, far surpassing the next two positions held by Microsoft Edge with 13.14% and Safari with 8.79%. On mobile devices, Chrome accounted for 65.94%, followed by Safari with 23.47% and Samsung Internet with 4.43%.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/hang-tram-trieu-nguoi-dung-trinh-duyet-chrome-dinh-ma-doc-qua-extension-276452.html