Microsoft Threat Intelligence has recently released critical findings regarding the presence of a malicious Google Chrome browser extension posing as the popular artificial intelligence service, Perplexity AI. The extension, suspiciously named "Search for perplexity ai", was found abusing permissions to secretly monitor its users' internet activity.
According to a report published in late June, this malicious software utilizes the "chrome_settings_overrides" feature to take control of the default search engine in the Chrome browser. Consequently, any keywords entered by users into the address bar are first redirected to the fake domain perplexity-ai.online before being directed to a legitimate search engine.
Google has followed up on these findings by removing the extension from the Chrome Web Store. However, this action does not automatically uninstall the extension from the devices of users who have already downloaded it.
Therefore, users are strongly advised to immediately check the list of installed extensions in their browsers and manually remove it to safeguard their personal data security. This incident serves as an important reminder for the public to remain selective and vigilant when downloading third-party software additions.
