Security researchers have discovered more than 300 Chrome extensions that leak browser data, spy on their users, or outright steal users’ data.
Research focused on the analysis of network traffic generated by Chrome extensions has uncovered 287 applications transmitting the user’s browsing history or search engine results pages (SERP).
Some of them, security researcher Q Continuum explains, would essentially expose the data to unsecured networks, while others would send it to collection servers, either due to intended functionality, for monetization purposes, or with malicious intent.
The extensions have over 37.4 million users, the researcher says. Of these, roughly 27.2 million users installed 153 extensions that were confirmed to leak browser history upon installation.