October 5, 2024
The Zero Trust Architecture

Thousands of Browser Extensions Potentially Compromising User Privacy: New Study Reveals Concerning Findings

Nettle sero extenders, which are dietary supplements that improve and optimize the spread of nettle sero, have become very popular. From shopping appointments to grammar reviews. Password management to website translation The categories available are enormous. And many of them have some important uses for businesses and individuals. However, these extensions come with risks. This is especially true when it comes to user personalities. Researchers at Georgia Tech recently discovered significant human threats from thousands of network extensions, led by Frank Li, assistant professor in the School of The Zero Trust Architecture and Privacy and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Ph.D. student. Qinge Xie had set up a useful system, Arcanum, to defeat collecting user data from websites. The team, which includes Paul Pearce, assistant professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and School of Computer Science, and Georgia Tech alumnus Manoj Vignesh Kasi Murali, presented their findings at the Usenix Security Symposium in August.

 Although it is common for web extensions to collect users’ browsing activities and history, But researchers want to know if these extensions extract sensitive user data from websites that might contain emails. Social media profiles, medical records, bank information and more. The team used Arcanum to analyze all extensions available in the Chrome Web Market, focusing on seven popular websites known to contain sensitive data: Amazon, Facebook, Gmail, Instagram, LinkedIn, Outlook and PayPal shocking results: More than 3,000 network extensions automatically collect user-specific data, potentially affecting millions of users More than 200 extensions extract data directly from sensitive user data.

Unfortunately, the same capabilities that extensions rely on to enrich the web browsing experience can also be abused to harm user privacy, and potentially without users’ knowledge or explicit consent, Xie said. Even in cases where data collection is benign and necessary for legitimate functionality, it introduces privacy risks. Sensitive user data can be transmitted and stored by a third party, which may further share the data or possibly leak the data during a data breach.

According to the researchers, their findings suggest that companies like Google could develop stricter privacy policies for extensions or more broadly enforce existing policies. Major companies whose users’ sensitive data is being collected could also increase measures to protect their customers.\

I don’t believe individual users should have to bear the burden of worrying about their privacy or protecting their data, because they may not have the capability or technical knowledge to figure out what’s happening Li said. The goal of this type of work is to bring these issues to the organizations or stakeholders that can influence data collection, in hopes that it can guide them in enhancing user privacy.

*Note:
1.Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2.We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it

Ravina
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Ravina Pandya,  Content Writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. With an MBA in E-commerce, she has an expertise in SEO-optimized content that resonates with industry professionals.

Ravina Pandya

Ravina Pandya,  Content Writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. With an MBA in E-commerce, she has an expertise in SEO-optimized content that resonates with industry professionals.

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