New Chrome and Firefox extensions block their removal to hijack browsers

[LASER_oneXM]

source: New Chrome and Firefox extensions block their removal to hijack browsers - Malwarebytes Labs

What you don’t see won’t hurt you, must have been the reasoning of the threat actors who created the latest batch of extensions that make these browser hijackers even more difficult to remove. The extensions redirect users away from pages where they can disable or delete them in order to drive clicks up on YouTube videos or hijack searchers.

The extensions, which have been found in both Chrome and Firefox browsers, block users from removing them by either by closing out pages with extensions/add-ons info, or sending users to a different page, such as an apps overview page, where extensions aren’t listed.

In Firefox, this problem is relatively easy to circumvent, but for Chrome it takes a lot of digging—so much so that we suggest the fastest way to resolve the problem is to report it to Chrome or your favorite security solution so they (we) can take care of it. (Malwarebytes Premium and Business users are already protected from these threats by our website protection module.)

However, if you’re not a Premium customer, there are still some, admittedly involved, ways to get around these murky and persistent browser hijackers by recognizing, finding, and removing the extensions. Here’s what you can do.

How to avoid
While the extensions have been around for a few weeks, both are still in use in one form or another. In fact, the Tiempo en colombia en vivo extension was still available in the Chrome Web Store at the time of writing. Unfortunately, since both the Chrome and Firefox extensions mostly add themselves through forced installs, it’s not always possible to avoid getting them. The best we can offer is to stay vigilant as you surf and use an adblocker (that could help with blocking the Firefox extension). Though we’d like add the obvious: Avoid actually downloading these extensions in web stores as well. In fact, it’s a good idea to read the fine print carefully for any browser extension you download.

 

[Prorootect]

Thank you, LASER_oneXM !https://malwaretips.com/members/laser_onexm.49392/

For removal of rogue extensions/add-ons, look on CCleaner/Tools/Startup ... you have the possibilities: Enable, Disable, Delete.

 

[DeepWeb]

Zemana Anti-Malware Portable detects bad extensions too.

 

[212eta]

Firefox and Chrome extensions that block add-on management - gHacks Tech News