A campaign involving 319 Chrome extensions with 13.4 million installs has been found hijacking users’ searches by redirecting them through tracking servers to generate ad revenue from Bing and Yahoo. These unlisted extensions, disguised as useful tools and promoted via shady ads, exploit Chrome’s settings to replace default search engines and funnel traffic through operator-controlled proxies, risking redirection to phishing sites or malware. Most identified extensions have been removed from the Chrome Web Store, but new variants continue to appear, prompting users to uninstall suspicious add-ons and run full antivirus scans.
Chrome Extensions with 13.4 Million Installs Caught Hijacking Searches
