Security News > 2022 > August > Malicious browser extensions targeted almost 7 million people
Almost 7 million users have attempted to install malicious browser extensions since 2020, with 70% of those extensions used as adware to target users with advertisements.
The most common payloads carried by malicious web browser extensions during the first half of 2022 belonged to adware families, snooping on browsing activity and promoting affiliate links.
From January 2020 to June 2022, Kaspersky recorded adware extensions targeting 4.3 million unique users, corresponding to roughly 70% of all malicious extensions in that period.
The third-most popular adware nesting on people's machines via malicious extensions is 'DealPly,' responsible for 97,525 infection attempts in the first half of the year.
This is followed by the automatic injection of the browser extensions and the addition of new registry keys.
To keep your browser free of adware infections, only download extensions from the browser's official web store, examine user comments and reviews, and run a background check on the developer/publisher.