

Over a million people who trusted the developer of this popular extension ended up getting the infected extension. The developer fell for a phishing attack, and the attacker uploaded a new version of the extension that inserted more advertisements into web pages. In August 2017, the very popular and widely recommended Web Developer extension for Chrome was hijacked. But, otherwise, the new version of the extension will run with all the same permissions the previous version did.

If an extension requires new permissions, it will temporarily be deactivated until you allow it. Modern web browsers like Google Chrome automatically update your installed browser extensions. How Safe Extensions Can Transform Into Malware

Even an extension that only does a minor thing to web pages you visit may require access to everything you do in your web browser. They’re tiny programs with a huge level of access to your web browser, and that makes them dangerous. These aren’t just cute, harmless little tools. For example, an extension that modifies in some way will require access to everything on, and therefore have access to your Google account-including your email. Even an extension that just requires access to one website could be dangerous, however. Modern web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have a permission system for extensions, but many extensions require access to everything so they can work properly.
