Yesterday we covered Google Search results in Edge are getting redirecting to other sites with OKSearch as Intermediary for some users. After users confirmed this happening due to particular extensions installed from Edge Add-ons Store. Microsoft has further looked into those and removed them. If you’re using these extensions, Edge will disable them on the next relaunch and notifies “this extension contains malware” on the extensions page as well through browser UI, you still need to remove them.
Here is what happened:
When searches performed in Edge from the address bar with Google as default Seach Engine, users noticed Search results when clicked were redirected through OKSearch to random sites.
Popular VPN and Great Suspender Extension Clones doing the Redirection
So far, Microsoft confirmed the following extensions are doing the OKSearch Redirect and removed them from their Addons Store
- NordVPN
- Adguard VPN
- TunnelBear VPN
- The Great Suspender
- Floating Player -Picture -in Picture Mode
These extensions are not official, created with the intention to generate revenue by injecting ads into websites users visit.
If you search and navigate to respective extension pages in Edge Add-ons Store, they’ll return 404 now.
This is not the first time, Microsoft acted on malicious edge extensions, it did in August as well as in the past.
Back in May, the Dark Reader developer brought to Microsoft notice that there multiple Dark Reader extensions on Edge Add-ons Store with malicious code. Edge Add-ons Store team deleted them then and recently when it found some extensions injecting ads into search results.
Chrome Web Store has malicious extensions problem, the problem is there for Edge Add-ons Store also. Microsoft needs to vet through the clones of popular extensions and remove them immediately.
Are you affected? Have you installed any of these extensions in Edge? What’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments below.
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