Chrome: With the furor over adware extensions in the Chrome Web Store not going away anytime soon, it's helpful to have an add-on that'll tell you which other extensions to avoid and which are safe. Extension Defender does just that, both on the web and inside of Chrome, if you install it.


Much like previously mentioned ExtShield, Extension Defender will warn you if you have any of the known (and still growing list of) adware-powered Chrome extensions installed in your browser. Unlike ExtShield however, the developer also has a website that lists all of the extensions in its database, so even if you choose not to install the add-on, you can browse the list there, submit other add-ons that are behaving badly to be included in the next update, and so on.


Once installed (and again, yes, the add-on itself asks for and needs a lot of permissions) you can click the shield in the toolbar to open it in a new tab and run a scan of the Chrome extensions you have installed. If anything malicious is found, you'll see it in a list, along with its plugin ID, name, author, and a button to remove it. As long as you have it installed, it'll scan and warn you of any new extensions you add to Chrome.

Again, keep in mind that installing an add-on to watch your add-ons is a trust issue. We looked at the code for this one (like we looked at the code for ExtShield) and didn't see anything to worry about, but since Chrome extensions can be updated automatically without the user noticing, we'd understand if you're skeptical of a new extension from an unknown developer that promises to keep you safe. If you prefer, you can hit the link below to visit their website and look through the list of known adware extensions instead.

Extension Defender | Chrome Web Store via Extension Defender