JAKARTA - A number of extensions in popular browsers have been revealed to steal user conversation logs with Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots. This finding was revealed by a cybersecurity company called Koi.
In scanning millions of software, Koi found several extensions that recorded all user conversations with AI. This theft method is done through a special script that runs automatically.
The script will run every time a user visits a chatbot site such as Chat, Gemini, and Claude. User sensitive data will then be recorded and sent to third parties without any control or permission from the user.
"The results show something completely different from our initial estimates of the less known extension," said Koi co-founder and CTO Idan Dardikman, quoted through a PC Mag report on Tuesday, December 23.
The first, and most prominent, extension in Koi's findings is Urban VPN Proxy. This extension has been downloaded more than seven million times on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. This expression is known to be able to record conversations on 10 major AI platforms.
The platforms that are included in the list include Copilot from Microsoft, Perplexity, Meta AI, and others. According to Koi's investigation, this data collection is automatically enabled through settings that are programmed permanently within the extension system.
Users are not given the option to turn off the recording feature through the application interface. If users are disturbed by their data being taken without permission, they can only remove the extension from the browser they are using.
"The only way to stop data collection is to completely uninstall the extension," said Dardikman.
In addition to Urban VPN Proxy, there are several other extensions that are known to do the same thing. These extensions include 1ClickVPN Proxy, Urban Browser Guard, and Urban Ad Blocker.
From the list, it is recorded that more than eight million users are potentially victims of digital surveillance practices. Although Chrome has removed these extensions, some of them are still available in other browsers.
In fact, some of them have received the title of Featured in other web stores. This shows that there is a gap in the review process of the extension distribution platform. To prevent your data from being leaked, Koi recommends that you immediately uninstall the extension.
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