The extension is a plugin which increases the purpose of a web browser with their extraordinary functionalities. A web extension comes with a lot of functionality such as it can modify web pages, add extra services, allow or block a page, and much more. There are some extensions that can even use web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. The extensions work without affecting any of the content of the web page.
The default browser of Windows, internet explorer brought support for the extension for the first time at 1999. In 2004, the Firefox start supporting web extensions at 2004 and the Google Chrome started supporting extensions from 2010.
There are thousands of extensions available for all browsers. However, not all of them are equally effective. There are some extensions which can cause serious harm to your PC. In this content, we will tell you about 6 popular firefox extensions you should remove as soon as possible.
How safe are the web extensions?
Browser extensions give a lot of services and make our internet browsing activity more relaxed. But they can be damaging to your safety at any time. Browser extensions have access to all of your information. They can even get your PIN, track your net history, and insert promotes on the web pages you visit. You may have a question, what could they do with your data? Typically, they sell your data to various companies and they can even use your online identity for illegal tasks.
Actually, the web extensions can be much more hazardous then you could ever imagine. A web extension can work like the keylogger, a password cracking application, which can seizure your PIN and credit card info. Moreover, they can turn into a malware anytime they want. So it is required to be vigilant about the extensions you are using.
The designers of the web browser can do everything they want from your browser. The web extension in google chrome needs the permission of the user to access the data. But on the other browser, they don’t even request your authorization to access your information.
6 Popular Firefox Extensions You Should Remove Right Now
Here are some of the firefox web extensions which has an immoral record about gathering user’s data.
1. AdBlock Plus
The AdBlock Plus is a common Firefox extension for a lot of users. Most of the web pages of the internet show ads and the website authorities earn a commission from it. It helps them to continue the website. The Adblock plus is an extension which stops screening ads from a web page in the Firefox browser. The Adblock plus is a heavy app and affect your internet surfing speed. As a result, the browsers become slow and consume a lot of time to load a simple web page.
If you want to fasten your browser’s speed then you should uninstall the AdBlock Plus. As soon as you eradicate the program, you will feel an obvious evolution in the speed of your browser.
2. Web of Trust (WOT)
The name of the web of trust might sound like reliable. It is a web extension which has a rating system to vote for a site. It helps the user to know about the trustworthiness of a website. When you have this extension in your browser, you will see a colored circle which defines the safety of a website.
A German distribution company found that the Web of Trust is gathering user information and providing these to the third party businesses. This information contains sensitive issues such as medication usage, diseases, travel plans, and much more. On the other hand, they take charge from the websites and eliminate the destructive review about the website. Many users stated that the extension has removed their reviews from some websites.
If you have the WOT extension installed in your Firefox browser, then you must delete it as soon as possible to secure your sensitive information.
3. Antivirus Extensions
Almost all of us use an antivirus extension and trust it is a good practice. We think that an antivirus can save our surfing information and other data from the hackers. But actuality, they can do the exact reverse.
We have analyzed several antivirus extensions and their working procedure. Actually, the antivirus extensions are impractical and they do not have any good way to notice malware on a web page. Moreover, these extensions see your browsing history and they can use these pieces of information for whatever they want.
Currently, most of the net browser including Firefox and chrome has a defense against damaging and pretentious web pages. They will warn you before redirecting you to a harmful page. So there is no need for the antivirus extensions.
4. Hola VPN
Hola is one of the most popular VPN services of the current time. It allows you to access a website which has been jammed in your country. It also helps you to eliminate restrictions on any website. It may seem legit but Hola is doing something unethical which will shock you soon.
The Hola VPN system has proven record of attacking numerous sites. Hola is actually a botnet which use the computers of the users to spam websites. It can carry out different types of attacks such as DDOS, spamming and other such attacks.
Moreover, Hola is not actually a VPN and it is a peer-to-peer net assembly which encodes the surfing traffic in a protected way. It uses another users PC to get you access to the regulated website. As an example, if you want to enter a website which is jammed in your country, Hola will use another PC’s link to let you do it.
There are a lot of countries which have a law and order against some websites. Imagine someone is using these websites through your computer without your consent. It may put you in a trouble in your country.
5. Hover Zoom
Hover Zoom started their journey with an authentic innovation. The purpose of the extension was to zoom in the pictures from the websites. It helps you see the bigger size of an image without downloading it. But later on, the extension was sold to a company which started using an extension as a spyware.
They use the application to assemble your information and other individual data and sell these to third-party companies. If you have previously installed this extension then you must eliminate it from your browser.
6. Deceitful Extensions
Recently, there are a lot of false extensions available for Mozilla Firefox. When you visit a junk site you may end up by downloading one of these extensions. The website will automatically ask you to open the extension file and most of the users unintentionally download them. As soon as you download these fake extensions, they will start showing you unwanted ads and much more. When you will try to visit a website, they will redirect you to the junk websites.
The fake extensions will stop you from accessing the add-on menu and make it difficult to remove them. However, you can stop them from Firefox safe mode.
The extension is making our internet browsing more easy and comfortable. But some of the extensions are misusing the information. Removing the above-mentioned extensions from your system will help you enjoy a risk-free internet browsing.
