Hello friends welcome again to the new post of HkGoodKh. Here our commitment is always to give you good online content which could prove to be fruitful.
Friends we do hope that you liked reading our previous post. In that we told you about the threats associated with the browser extensions also known as "Addons". By reading that you would have comprehended the dangers.
In this post we would go one step further. We would be providing tips that would protect against bad or rogue addons. We would enlist precautions that you must follow before an extension. By following these online safety tips you could thwart any attack of rogue extension.
So lets get going.
Enable 2 Factor Authentication
Yes HkGoodKh would suggest this to be the best security tip for any day. It is like a locker within the locker with the keys of the innermost locker with you. Even if a thief gets hold of your outer locker he would not be able to steal your precious items. Reason being all the items are in the innermost locker. And that key is with you.
Same logic could be extended in case of bad add-on. Even if it has access to your password, 2 FA would prevent access to your account data. It would act as a deterrent.
Also we would suggest you to go for a strong password for your online account. Hope you got our point.
FAKE ADDON MAY SHOW SIGNS TO THE USER OF BEING FAKE
Enable 2 Factor Authentication
Yes HkGoodKh would suggest this to be the best security tip for any day. It is like a locker within the locker with the keys of the innermost locker with you. Even if a thief gets hold of your outer locker he would not be able to steal your precious items. Reason being all the items are in the innermost locker. And that key is with you.
Same logic could be extended in case of bad add-on. Even if it has access to your password, 2 FA would prevent access to your account data. It would act as a deterrent.
Also we would suggest you to go for a strong password for your online account. Hope you got our point.
FAKE ADDON MAY SHOW SIGNS TO THE USER OF BEING FAKE
Friends fake adblock plus was very similar to the original. But still it gave users signs that it was fake. The fake adblock plus was called "AdBlock Plus". Note the capitalized 'B'. It is an error.
The only other difference was that fake adblock plus was classified under App category. To appear real the fake one spammed keywords.
Also it did contrary job of opening ads rather than blocking it.
So friends of you are suspicious about an addon try to observe it closely. Try to compare with original. If it causes increase in tabs or ads do not think twice and just install it. Your job is done. You are in safe zone.
INSTALL LEAST EXTENSIONS AND IF YOU CAN DO AWAY WITHOUT THEM GO FOR IT
HkGoodKh highly recommends this tip to be on the safe side. Along with this we also suggest that if an extension does not work as per expectation just uninstall it. This would surely minimize the risk.
ONLY GO FOR EXTENSIONS DEVELOPED BY TRUSTED COMPANY
Yup that's the right thing to do. Like Google they develop the official Gmail Notifier. And you can always trust that they would never sell this to just any company for the sake of few thousand bucks.
GO ONLY FOR ADDONS WITH GOOD RATINGS
Definitely addon with excellent ratings would have something special in them to win user trust. So check them. Also avoid unrated, low rated and unsigned addons.
ALWAYS READ THE EXTENSION REVIEW
Yes because reviews may give an indication that the extension might be suspicious.
This is one of the best methods to check for third party content. Also do this before installing it. For this you can utilize the power of "Chrome Extension Source Viewer" In the main toolbar it would show a button. Just click it and the source code would be right in front of you. To analyze the addon locally you can also choose to download it as a zip file.
You can also use filter by type option. For instance choosing image would straight away display the code.
But friends this works for you only if you can read the code. If you can't unfortunately you would not get any good out of this.
USE VIRTUAL KEYBOARD FOR ENTERING PERSONAL INFORMATION AND BANKING SITES
DISABLE AUTO UPDATE
Why because even a good addon may become a malware if it auto updates.
DO READ THE PRIVACY POLICY, TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND FAQ SECTION OF EACH BROWSER EXTENSION BEFORE INSTALLATION
Well who knows it might give you a clue whether to trust an addon or not. Addon which has ambiguous policy terms and likewise might be untrusted.
TRY YOUR HANDS ONLY ON THOSE ADDONS HAVING LOT OF USERS
Lot of users may often indicate that the product can be trusted. So do check it.
TRY TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE PERMISSIONS REQUIRED BY AN EXTENSION BEFORE INSTALLING.
Well while you cannot always determine whether an addon requires the permissions it has requested still it makes sense to check them. Especially if an extension is requesting entire data on computer and websites.
DO NOT ENABLE ANY EXTENSION IN INCOGNITO WINDOW AND OPEN ALL SECURE LINKS AND BANK SITES IN INCOGNITO WINDOW
GO FOR SECURE BROWSER
HkGoodKh recommends to use Firefox or Chrome. These have excellent security tools. The online store regularly checks the extensions to offer you the best experience.
ALWAYS CHECK THE COMPANY WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH ADDON
Yes and we emphasize this even if you are installing the same extension again. As in the case of adblock plus, the real website is adblockplus.org.Also that extension was not developed by Google. If the user had just checked the website before installing the fake extension guess what out of 10 times he would have chosen NOT TO INSTALL it 9 times.
So friends by now you must have got what it takes to stay secure while installing browser addons. Do apply these online safety tips. Also your comments are eagerly awaited.
Note:
Shortcut key for bookmarking on your browser is CTLR+D
Shortcut key for accessing your bookmark menu is CTLR+SHIFT+B
