Can extensions be malicious?

Yes, extensions can be malicious, but the harm they can cause is quite specific. In terms of severity, a browser extension is not on par with full-fledged malware. Since extensions cannot go beyond the environment of a browser, they cannot infect the system, modify or delete system files, or directly manipulate the operating system (except for cases with vulnerabilities). However, some extensions can collect personal data, such as browsing history, passwords, and other confidential information, and transmit it to third parties without your consent. This makes them close to spyware and infostealers.

Depending on the type of extension, they can act differently and thus have distinct malicious potential: For example, some can open pop-up ads, redirect users to phishing sites or inject ads into websites where they are initially not present. Some extensions may contain malicious code that can initiate the download of other malicious programs. They can also change your browser settings without your knowledge, alter your homepage or search engine.

It is worth noting that a malicious browser extension these days is a rare find, unless you source them from official websites. Browser extensions are usually distributed through extension stores – platforms that have moderation and requirements, although they are not always effective for stopping malicious stuff. Should their system detect malicious activity or get a well-backed feedback on malignant behavior, the extension’s listing will cease to exist.

Main ways for dodgy extensions to spread are far away from the common routes of the Internet. Usually, they appear from a redirection made by a shady website that trades its traffic to random traffic brokers online. Upon redirection, the user will see an offer to install a “recommended extension” – to enhance security or to display the content. Sure enough, neither of these really happen after the installation.

Browser Hijacker

A browser hijacker is perhaps the most common type of malicious extension. Once installed, this extension changes your homepage and search engine. Even if the user navigates to google.com and performs a search, the extension redirects the query to its search engine. It also adds a special token to each search query, which modifies the search results. In the end, instead of relevant results, the user receives sponsored links that may not even match the query.

The primary risk of such extensions lies in the collection of personal information. The redirection that happens in the process throws the user through a selection of data broker sites, and each of them gathers whatever data they want. Aforementioned alteration of search results can casually throw the user to a phishing page. In some cases, this can result in the download of malicious software.

Adware

Adware extensions, as the name suggests, add advertisements to all the websites a user visits. Typically, these extensions disguise themselves as something useful or basic, such as extensions for finding discounts and promo codes. Notably, similar functionality is already present in Microsoft Edge. In practice, these extensions are useless; instead, they bombard the user with ads. Considering that adware does not do anything beyond the actions I’ve just mentioned, malicious browser extensions may be just an adware specimen.

Typical result of activity of adware browser extensions is hard to ignore. The browser starts to run slowly; clicking on any element on a page opens multiple tabs with ads, some of which may be malicious. Certain sites can automatically initiate the download of malicious software. Overall, the extension can seriously degrade the user experience and pose a threat to privacy.

Fake Cryptocurrency Wallet Extension

Fake cryptocurrency wallet extensions pose as legitimate crypto wallets, but their goal is to steal users’ credentials and funds. As I mentioned earlier, moderation in app stores is far from perfect, and sometimes malicious actors manage to place harmful extensions in official extension stores. These extensions may be disguised as popular wallets but have no actual affiliation with them.

When a user enters their credentials, such as private keys, mnemonic phrases, or passwords, the extension transmits this information to the malicious actors. This info allows the attackers to access the user’s real cryptocurrency wallets. Once they have access to the account, the attackers can transfer the funds to their accounts, leading to a complete loss of cryptocurrency for the user.

How to Stay Safe?

Malicious browser extensions are a type of threat you should not underestimate the dangers of. I have a few recommendations that can help you minimize the risks associated with malicious extensions. Firstly, try to avoid installing unnecessary extensions. I would recommend avoiding extensions from unverified sources altogether.

While most of us tend to click “next” to speed up the installation process when installing an extension from a store, I suggest paying attention to the developer and reading the reviews. Keep an eye on your installed extensions and promptly remove any that are unnecessary. Pay special attention when installing extensions related to cryptocurrency wallets. And finally, consider using decent anti-malware software that will notify you about the malicious activity that comes from such an extension.

The post Browser Extensions: Are They Safe? appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

There are a lot of reasons to reset your browser. Generally, they have malicious origins. Most of the malware infects not only your system but also your browser. Nasty redirects, slow performance of search process, ads, replaced homepage and search engine – these are consequences of annoying browser virus.

Moreover, such browser hijacker possesses a real threat to your privacy. GridinSoft Team found lots of cases when an unwanted search engine collects the search history and personal information of the victim and uses them in own purpose. Not each anti-malware program can offer the online security feature, which prevents data collection. But GridinSoft Anti-Malware does.

We also recommend resetting your browser settings regularly if you use a lot of browser plugins. Plugins have a bad habit of conflicting with each other, and the more ones you have in your browser – the higher is the chance to have problems. No one wants to see the web browser slow and buggy, right?

How to reset my browser settings?

The most efficient way is to reset browser settings automatically. GridinSoft Anti-Malware offers a free tool that will make your browsers clean with just one click. In order to reset these settings back to the normal mode, please click the “Tools” menu tab and then select the “Reset Browser Settings” option.

Choose browsers that you want to reset and items that need to be back to default mode. Click “Reset. That’s all!

Browsers that you chose will be closed after resetting.

Please, save all your important data before cleaning. All bookmarks will stay no matter which items you will choose to reset.

The post Reset Browser Chrome, Opera, Edge, Firefox and Safari to Default appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What is the Yahoo Search Engine?

Yahoo is one of the first search engines that appeared on the Internet. In 1995, it was initially introduced as a search mechanism for cataloging the websites recommended by Yahoo. Further, they applied for a partnership with Inktomi and then Google. That allowed Yahoo to become much more popular. In 2003, they added a full-fledged web crawling service that extended the search results. However, in 2004 Google managed to outpace Yahoo by market share. Now it is just a part of niche services offered by Yahoo.

Besides its 100% benevolent nature, there are cases when users uncover that Yahoo is set as their search engine by force. Changing it to the one you used does not help – it will be switched back to Yahoo almost immediately. Searching with such settings is likely not comfortable because the results differ from what you expect. And the most unpleasant thing is that someone earns money for you with such changes.

How Does That Work?

Seeing your search engine constantly changed to Yahoo means that you have a malicious program on your computer. Such programs are usually identified as browser hijackers. As you can guess from their name, , they take control of your web browser without your allowance. They can change any setting in the infected browser, including the search engine, redirect search queries, open the websites and start the browser whenever it wants. The crooks control all this activity and designate all changes and redirects that malware does.

The exact form of that malware may be different. Most browser hijackers are tiny programs that sit deep on the disk. Throughout the last couple of years, they massively opted for the guise of a browser plugin. That makes the malware implementation much easier, and formally such plugins do not violate any rules – the user allows it to do all these nasty things during the installation.

Is the Yahoo Search in Chrome Dangerous?

There is no direct danger browser hijackers bring to your system. But since it can throw you on the website it wants, you may easily fall victim to phishing or unintentionally trigger the malware downloading. Same-quality crooks often make sites advertised by crooks, so the chance of seeing a legit site after the redirect is pretty low. Scam sites like Pornographic Virus Alert from Microsoft also appear among these redirections.

Besides the possibility of being scammed in such a way, you may also get your personal information stolen. In the cases when malware is spread as a browser hijacker, it asks you to give access to cookie files and browser history. Those two categories are pretty valuable for selling the data to third parties. Besides that, cookies may contain the login credentials in the unciphered form – that is just a gift for cybercriminals.

How Did I Get the Malware?

As I have mentioned before, browser hijackers may have different forms. Web browser plugin, “PC optimiser”, rogue – choose what you want. While all this diversity is hard to compare when you don’t know about the internal things, the externals – exactly how they are distributed- are most likely the same. Crooks who spread hijackers usually try to bait the user into installing the malware under something useful. Usually, such stuff is found on online forums, abandoned sites that were hacked, and advertisements.

Any advertised offers that look too generous or contain statements baiting you to click on them must not be trusted. Only God knows what will happen – redirection, malware downloading, or even throwing you to the exploit page. It is better not to choose at all – I recommend you avoid clicking such things. It is one of the most basic principles of cyber hygiene – don’t ignore it!

Remove Yahoo Search from Chrome

Most modern malware creates enough hitches in your system to make it harder to remove. Browser hijackers are not an exclusion. Users may delete some of the files, leaving the other part untouched. And the virus manages to recover its files using the rest of them. Detecting all malware parts is a thankless job. That’s why I’d advise you to use anti-malware software. Reverting the changes in the web browser is much easier, so I will show you how to reset your Chrome browser.

Anti-malware programs can find all malware parts by checking the paths specified in their code. Therefore, using a well-done antivirus that will detect and wipe all the files of browser hijackers is a perfect way to get rid of the latter. I will recommend GridinSoft Anti-Malware as the program that will 100% complete this task. Download it from our official website.

You can try out the full functionality of GridinSoft Anti-Malware during a 6-day free trial. After the app installation, you will be offered to type your nickname and email address to receive a free trial code. It will arrive right in your email after passing these steps. Without it, you can still scan your devices and reset the browsers but can’t remove the detects.

Reset Your Chrome Browser Settings

• Most of the contemporary browsers have the same reset steps. Chrome is not an exclusion; it is a trendsetter for the rest programs in this class. Go to Settings, and find there the Reset and Clean Up submenu.

• In it, click on the Restore settings to their original defaults. That will call the appearance of the pop-up window.

• In that pop-up window, accept the settings resetting. Then, your browser will be as good as the newly installed.

The post Yahoo Search: How to Remove Yahoo from Chrome? appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

Alas!

The browser starts to act stupid, redirecting and taking you places filled with creepy adverts or worse yet, issuing warnings of possible harm if you don’t “Update Your Flash Player.” And while the naïve would likely fall for the trap, smart and tech-savvy individuals may automatically note the adware running in the background. But as ubiquitous as the phenomenon is, adware attacks are a discreet way cyber criminals are using to make money off the unsuspecting.

Though it is probably the most popular way of telling that you are under attack, there are other subtle and perhaps less ferocious cyber attacks. There’s a form of adware gradually going mainstream. Besides redirecting, the virus goes ahead and alters your default search engine to something weird.

You start your PC, ready to browse the web, but once you key in whatever you need to search the web, you are redirected to a page with bizarre search results. It happens often and hurts the unsuspecting!

Pop-ads are yet another sign your computer is under an immense adware attack.

Simple as they appear, these pop-ads can be a source of immense misery, hurt your typical browsing habits and perhaps steal valuable data as you browse.

Many other times, these malicious occurrences make the PC act slower than it normally does, including lowering the average browsing speed and how the computer executes simple tasks. Of course, the phenomenon becomes more suspicious when you note the occurrence yet your PC doesn’t have a heavy program running or when you’re connected to a fast internet.

How Adware Works

Generally, these malicious tools are embedded into ‘free-ware’ or pirated software and act as part of a bundle of payment to the proprietor of the freely downloaded software.

Adware is simple software that comes with integrated advertising materials, including those that trigger redirects and pop-ups.

Mostly, the adware is activated whenever the tool that it is embedded in runs and the PC is connected to the internet.

At the moment, many software developers offer their products as “sponsored software” so that the ad pays for the free services provided. It is a pretty common type of adware and may continue until the user pays to register and thus unlock the ad off the software.

Regardless of how they work, these malicious attacks are very much annoying. Pop-ads waste a lot of time, while redirects and the slowing down of the PC hurt the ordinary performance of the computer. Aside from these, adware can set the stage for various other attacks, including spyware, ransomware and virus attacks.

How to avoid Adware

Tip #1 Never click any suspicious-looking pop-up windows and ads
Tip #2 Don’t answer or reply unsolicited emails and messages
Tip #3 Exercise utmost caution when downloading free software applications

Above all, invest in the best malware removal software. GridinSoft Anti-Malware does a great job!

The post Adware Everywhere: Who Knows What Is Happening? appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.

What Is Adware And Is It As Lethal As The Other Malicious Programs?

Adware or ad-sponsored software could be subtly harmless or aggravatingly consistent and deadly, depending on a couple of factors.

Mostly, the program is designed to benefit the marketer by collecting information regarding the target’s preferences. But that’s not where their work stops!

It will embark on removing all browser’s restrictions, change programs and browser setting and even alter the most preferred home page, all these happening without the PC owner’s consent. It would sound like a joke until endless and annoying ads pop-up out of nowhere.

However, some Adware programs are rather tolerable, primarily serving as the direct channel to deliver sales messages without those bothersome features. Software like Skype comes with adware in the form of embedded adverts, and they are specifically there to aid in the cost of development. Upon purchasing the premium version, ads are done away with altogether.

More lethal and irksome types that do all kinds of ills, from changing the browser’s default search engine to issuing stupid warnings to trick into buying an item exist. These far more insidious types don’t ask for permission to portray an ad. Typically, they thrive in illegal websites and display all kinds of ad banners, pop-ups, and other bizarre information, often in a more forceful manner.

At least, there are six different and terrifying ways cunning marketers are using to promote and showcase their items. Some of the most prevalent forms of adware include:

1. Numerous, intimidating ads and banners that cover the entire web page or blur the relevant information.
2. In-text ads with information – they tend to appear in-between the page.
3. Automatic video adverts that start to play once the page is opened.
4. Redirects from the main browser page – you are redirected to a particular web store and prompted to buy an item.
5. Pop-ups and pop-unders – you’re led to an online store or a blank page and teased that you’ve won a lottery so that you can submit your details.
6. Couponware, Reminderware, Loyaltyware, PPV, CPV, PopUps, Pop Unders, interruptive, interstitials.

Scammers are scheming and usually target import details such as the computer’s IP address, email address, names, credit card information and other personal data. All of them will be auctioned off to third-party marketers for a colossal sum of money. Quite honestly, adware programs are virtually infinite, and it get’s quite hard to stop all of them. However, just ensure you’ve got a premium, reputable anti-malware software.

The post 6 Terrifying Samples How Marketers Use Adware appeared first on Gridinsoft Blog.