Malicious Edge Browser Extensions Reportedly Hijacking Google Searches - dugasshoult

Microsoft is investigation reports that approximately Edge browser extensions are redirecting Google searches to obscure portals like OKSearch.com. Users reporting the issues have identified five malicious add-ons that are said to be redirecting these searches.

Interestingly, they all tolerate names of legitimate developers, like NordVPN, Adguard VPN, TunnelBear VPN, The Great Suspender and Floating Player – Picture-in-Picture Mode. However, accordant to an investigation by ArsTechnica, all of them are from fraudsters with no relation to the legitimize companies whose names are being exploited to cozen unsuspecting users.

The issue has been described in detail by Redditor, u/OldPizza, who alleged that every so often, Google search links are hijacked and redirected to OKSearch connected Microsoft Edge. The redirected page "then itself redirects to another site. The airt varies — erstwhile it was Amazon River, some other time it was zoological garden.com, another time it was publicrecords.info". The problem, apparently, only happens once in a while and not every time you click a link on Google explore results.

Explaining the working of the malicious extensions, Laurence Norah, a Microsoft Edge user and photographer at 'Finding the Universe', said: "I had the tunnelbear extension installed, but I separate it once I figured out it was causing the issue. It's easy enough to see it happening—if you set up one of the affected extensions in Edge, active dev tools, and military press the 'sources' tab, you'll interpret something that shouldn't be there like ok-search.org or cdn77".

Microsoft has since issued an official statement saying it is investigating the reports and will admit all necessary steps to protect customers. "We'Re investigating the reported extensions listed and will subscribe to action as needed to help protect customers", the company said.