There are hundreds of thousands of browser extensions designed to help us to save time, be more productive, and personalise our online experience.
And while the majority of them do what they’re supposed to, some are not designed to help you at all…
If you’re unfortunate enough to download a malicious browser extension without realising, it could harm your productivity and even flood your work with unwanted advertising.
This is known as adware. It’s a form of malware (malicious software) that’s designed to bombard you with unwanted adverts.
It can also change your search engine and send you to affiliate pages when you’re making purchases. These activities generate revenue for the extension’s creators.
In a recent report from a cyber security company, it revealed more than 4 million of its customers have been attacked by adware hiding in browser extensions over the last couple of years.