How to Identify and Uninstall Malicious Extensions from Chrome and Edge 🗑️

A recent report by security researchers highlighted a serious problem: 18 browser extensions for Chrome and Edge have infected 2.3 million users with malware.

These extensions, which included VPNs, weather tools, and video playback controllers, were tracking users’ browsing habits and sending that data to hackers. I’m here to help you check your own browser and remove any of these malicious extensions.

The first thing you need to do is to find the list of the malicious extensions. The Israeli firm Koi Security, which discovered the problem, listed all 18 extensions on its blog. You can find the list at www.snipca.com/55538. You’ll see the name of each extension in square brackets, such as ‘Colour Picker Tool – Geco’.

🛠️ How to Uninstall the Extensions

• Once you have the list, go to your browser’s extension management page.
• In Chrome, type chrome://extensions in the address bar and press Enter.
• In Edge, type edge://extensions.
• Look for any of the extensions from the list and click the ‘Remove’ button to uninstall them.

This is a crucial step to protect yourself, as these extensions can send your browsing data to hackers, who can then use it to send you to malicious sites or steal your personal details.

Both Google and Microsoft have removed these extensions from their official web stores, but they’re still available from unofficial ones.

🛡️ What About Ad-Blocking Extensions?

The new Manifest V3 rules for Chrome extensions have made it difficult for ad blockers to work as well as they used to. However, you can still use ad-blocking browsers like Brave to block most of the annoying ads, including full-screen vignette ads. You can also install ad-blocking extensions on Firefox and the Android version of Edge to get a similar level of protection.

Block the most annoying ads ever. Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.

Uninstall 18 browser extensions that track your data online. Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.

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