Popular Chrome Extension Revealed To Be Mining Cryptocurrency
Recent report have revealed that a popular Google Chrome extension with thousands of users have been found to be hijacking the users' CPUs to mine cryptocurrency. Called the Archive Poster, the file responsible for mining seems to have been installed late in 2017.
According to reports, the incident came in to light because of security research Troy Mursch, who revealed that at least four version of the Archive Poster extension for Google Chrome have been transformed and converted into Coinhive cryptojacking tools. Mursch revealed that in particular, versions 4.4.3.994 and 4.4.3.998 will lead to greater risks if use is prolonged.
Users further revealed that the file responsible for converting he extension was incorporated to the source code at the beginning of December. Several have also warned others of the existence of the cryptojacking tools. Extension developer Essence Labs has released a statement on the claims and emphasized that it was true but it was because of a hacking incident.
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"An old team member who was responsible for updating the extension had his Google account compromised," Essence Labs said in an email to PCMag. "Somehow the extension was hijacked to another Google account."
Archive Poster has been known to be a useful extension as proven by the 105,000 users who have had it installed in their Google Chrome browsers. The extension allows them to have an easy way of queueing, reblogging, and drafting posts from another blog's archive. Specifically, it is popular for Tumblr users. Essence Labs is meanwhile working to regain access to the extension. There is no word yet on whether or not it will be safe for use but for now, fans are advised to remove the extension until further notice. Regardless, more information is expected to be released in the coming weeks or as soon as Essence Labs is able to rectify the situation.
