The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has warned users to remove five google chrome extension apps from their Android phones immediately.
NCC revealed that the apps have been designed to steal users’ information Surprisingly, the apps named have been downloaded by users around the world over 1 million times.
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) issued a warning about the five malicious Google Chrome extensions that secretly track and steal data from online browsers.
Reuben Muoka, the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs (DPA), made the announcement on Saturday in Abuja.
The five malicious extensions, according to Muoka, were discovered by the McAfee mobile research team.
Details of the apps:
Netflix Party has 800,000 downloads, Netflix Party 2 has 300,000 downloads, and full page screenshot capture screenshotting has 200,000 downloads, according to him.
Others include the flipShope price tracker extension, which has 80,000 downloads, and the autobuy flash sales, which has 20,000 downloads.
“The five Google Chrome extensions identified have a high probability of causing damage and have been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, all while serving as access to steal users’ data.
“The telecom sector-focused cybersecurity protection team warned telecom customers to exercise caution when installing any browser extension.
“These chrome extensions’ users are unaware of their invasive functionality and privacy risk.
“Malicious extensions track victims’ visits to e-commerce websites and modify the visitor’s cookie to make it appear as if they arrived via a referrer link.
“As a result, the developers of the extensions receive an affiliate fee for any purchases made at electronic stores,” he explained.
Although the Google team removed several browser extensions from its Chrome Web Store, the DPA stated that keeping malicious extensions out may be difficult.
He did, however, state that the NCC-CSIRT advises telecom customers to exercise caution when installing any browser extension.