The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has identified five malicious chrome extensions that they urge Nigerians to delete immediately.
According to the commission, the extensions surreptitiously track online browser activities and steal users’ data.
These extensions were identified by the Computer Security Incident Response Team of the NCC (NCC – CSIRT) and announced it on their website at ncc.gov.ng.
The five malicious extensions are McAfee Mobile, Netflix Party, Netflix Party, Full Page Screenshot Capture Screenshotting, FlipShope Price Tracker Extension, and AutoBuy Flash Sales.
These extensions have been downloaded over 1 million times at the time of writing this report. Their sole intentions are to steal user data and monitor their online activities.
According to NCC-CSIRT the five google chrome extensions identified have a high probability and damage potential, have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, and serve as access to steal users’ data.
Part of the advisory from NCC reads: “The users of these chrome extensions are unaware of their invasive functionality and privacy risk.
Malicious extensions monitor victims’ visits to e-commerce websites and modify the visitor’s cookie to appear as if they came through a referrer link.
Consequently, the extensions’ developers get an affiliate fee for any purchases at electronic shops.
NCC also stated that although the google team removed several browser extensions from its Chrome Web Store, keeping malicious extensions out may be difficult.
The NCC-CSIRT, thus, recommended that telecom consumers observe caution when installing any browser extension.
These 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.