It seems as though the efforts made by Google and Mozilla, to safeguard their extensions is failing miserably, and they are unable to prevent private information from leaking to third parties. Only recently, it was found that extensions of the said browsers were busy extracting and collecting cryptocurrency using power from users' CPUs, without their consent or knowledge.
According to a new research by Adguard, a massive spyware campaign is under action, which collects browsing data off users' Internet. It is estimated that approximately 11 million users, who use extensions on Android and iOS, are affected by this action. It was also revealed that this threat extends to many other Android applications as well, which belongs to a Delaware corporation named "Big Star Labs". Some of the applications which fall under this category include Poper Blocker, Speed Boosters and Battery Saver.
Even though the tools claim to collect information which is completely anonymous and non-personal, this is not exactly the case. In today's era, especially with the ever-increasing use of various social media platforms, discovering one's identity by merely looking at browsing histories is not impossible. In fact, it is easier than it actually sounds. What makes this worse is the fact that it is practically impossible to track the companies with which these private data are being shared. The most surprising thing is that despite severely violating Google's policies, apps' privacy policies seem to be making adjustments to accommodate and justify such malicious acts.
It is about time that Google and Mozilla up their security and privacy game and ensure that people's personal information is not shared with anonymous "bad actors".
According to a new research by Adguard, a massive spyware campaign is under action, which collects browsing data off users' Internet. It is estimated that approximately 11 million users, who use extensions on Android and iOS, are affected by this action. It was also revealed that this threat extends to many other Android applications as well, which belongs to a Delaware corporation named "Big Star Labs". Some of the applications which fall under this category include Poper Blocker, Speed Boosters and Battery Saver.
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Even though the tools claim to collect information which is completely anonymous and non-personal, this is not exactly the case. In today's era, especially with the ever-increasing use of various social media platforms, discovering one's identity by merely looking at browsing histories is not impossible. In fact, it is easier than it actually sounds. What makes this worse is the fact that it is practically impossible to track the companies with which these private data are being shared. The most surprising thing is that despite severely violating Google's policies, apps' privacy policies seem to be making adjustments to accommodate and justify such malicious acts.
It is about time that Google and Mozilla up their security and privacy game and ensure that people's personal information is not shared with anonymous "bad actors".
