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However, not all extensions are created equal and some carry real risks.
Malware and compromised extensions
web client extensions can expose you to malware in multiple ways.
This means that even if you uninstall the extension, the malware can remain on your system.
However, this still translates to millions of impacted users.
Still, there are also times where legitimate extensions are hijacked by cybercriminals to launchphishing attacksor to steal data.
Likewise, even morecompromised Chrome extensionswere discovered in February of this year.
Data collection
to work, online window extensions need to access a range of permissions.
Some permissions, however, allow these extensions to access a vast amount of data and sensitive information.
Some of these extensions also did not detail the extent of data collection in their privacy policies.
So its best to assess whether the functionality of an extension is worth the potential privacy impact.
Extensions can slow down your browserwhile running code.
In isolation, a website may only lag by a few seconds.
The real problem comes in when you are running multiple extensions that have an impact on performance.
This can significantly slow down your browsers performance when loading pages.
What can you do to protect yourself?
With there being some substantial risks to installing online window extensions, what can you do to protect yourself?
check that to check the reviews of different extensions to see if users flag any issues or suspicious activity.
At the same time, dont grant an extension more permissions than necessary.
This is easier to do with browsers that have a significant level of customization.
This would eliminate my need to rely on Dark Reader for the same purpose.
If you are no longer using an extension, its best to get rid of it.
Theres no denying that internet tool extensions play an important role in the way we use the web.
