He published a blog post on October 28, detailing his findings, but in a blog post dated today, he said he also found the same behavior in the Avast and AVG SafePrice extensions as well. Palant analyzed the Avast Online Security and AVG Online Security extensions in late October and found that the two were collecting much more data than they needed to work - including detailed user browsing history, a practice prohibited by both Mozilla and Google. Mozilla removed the four extensions from its add-ons portal after receiving a report from Wladimir Palant, the creator of the AdBlock Plus ad-blocking extension. The first two are extensions that show warnings when navigating to known malicious or suspicious sites, while the last two are extensions for online shoppers, showing price comparisons, deals, and available coupons. The four extensions are Avast Online Security, AVG Online Security, Avast SafePrice, and AVG SafePrice. Mozilla removed today four Firefox extensions made by Avast and its subsidiary AVG after receiving credible reports that the extensions were harvesting user data and browsing histories.
10 dangerous app vulnerabilities to watch out for (free PDF).Ukrainian developers share stories from the war zone Linux distros for beginners: You can do this! Got questions about crypto? Ask the Coachįor Mom: The best flower delivery services “Last week, months after it was spotted using its browser extensions to send data to Jumpshot, Avast began asking its existing free antivirus consumers to opt-in to data collection, according to an internal document,” Motherboard wrote.How ransomware attacks threaten our food supply That data is then passed along to Jumpshot, those sources said, and from there to its corporate clients. But other sources alleged that it is instead collecting that same information from the Avast and AVG free antivirus programs. In the report, Avast told Motherboard/PCMag earlier this week that data collected by the Avast browser extensions is no longer provided to Jumpshot.
(Avast acquired Jumpshot in 2013, and a statement on the company’s website says that it “provides insights into consumers’ online journeys by measuring every search, click and buy across 1,600 categories from more than 150 sites, including Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Walmart.”) At the time, the news caused browser makers like Google to remove both from its web store, though the extensions have since returned. Palant alleged that the information-which included a unique user ID, the page you visited, whether you’d visited that page before, and other information-could be provided to third parties, and suggested that Jumpshot could be a possible destination. The joint report by Vice’s Motherboard and PCMag had built upon reports by Adblock Plus creator Wladimir Palant, who reported in October, 2019 that the Avast Online Security Extension as well as the AVG Secure Browser spy on users, harvesting their information.
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