28 dangerous extensions you should immediately remove from Chrome and Microsoft Edge

Recently, security firm Avast recently reported that more than 3 million users have installed 28 dangerous extensions. Of these, there are 15 extensions for Google Chrome and 13 extensions for Microsoft Edge.

According to Avast, these 28 extensions contain code that executes some harmful behaviors such as:

1. Redirect users to the ad
2. Redirect users to a phishing website
3. Collect user data such as date of birth, email address, and device information
4. Browser crawl
5. Downloading malicious code to the user's computer

The main purpose of these extensions, according to Avast. is monetization by redirecting user traffic to other sites. These pages are mainly advertising and phishing sites. They will pay extension developers based on the traffic generated by the extension.

Avast discovered these extensions last month, but there is some evidence that they exist since December 2018. At that time, some users realized that they were sometimes redirected to unfamiliar sites.

Jan Rubín, an expert on malware at Avast, said that it is not possible to determine whether these extensions contained malicious code in the first place or was recently added via the updated channel. Many of these extensions have attracted a lot of downloads.

Avast has reported the issue to both Microsoft and Google and the two companies are working on investigations and verification. Currently both Microsoft and Google have not commented yet.

Here is a list of malicious extensions on Google Chrome:

1. Direct Message for Instagram
2. DM for Instagram
3. Invisible mode for Instagram Direct Message
4. Downloader for Instagram
5. App Phone for Instagram
6. Stories for Instagram
7. Universal Video Downloader
8. Video Downloader for FaceBook ™
9. Vimeo ™ Video Downloader
10. Zoomer for Instagram and FaceBook
11. VK UnBlock. Works fast.
12. Odnoklassniki UnBlock. Works quickly.
13. Upload photo to Instagram ™
14. Spotify Music Downloader
15. The New York Times News

And on Microsoft Edge:

1. Direct Message for Instagram ™
2. Instagram Download Video & Image
3. App Phone for Instagram
4. Universal Video Downloader
5. Video Downloader for FaceBook ™
6. Vimeo ™ Video Downloader
7. Volume Controller
8. Stories for Instagram
9. Upload photo to Instagram ™
10. Pretty Kitty, The Cat Pet
11. Video Downloader for YouTube
12. SoundCloud Music Downloader
13. Instagram App with Direct Message DM

Avast recommends that users remove these extensions early to ensure their safety.