The company has also remotely disabled the extension for users who had it installed with a warning message saying that it contains malware. Google has removed the popular Chrome plugin The Great Suspender from the Chrome Web Store.
#Great tab suspender malware download#
So if you do download an extension, check the reviews, check the change logs, see if they have a website or GitHub repository, and make sure you know what you’re downloading. A fair amount of Chrome extensions are made by individuals or small teams of people who can really screw you over if you aren’t paying attention. The bigger picture thing though, is to be aware of what you’re downloading to your browser. There are several alternatives to TGS, it’s not as if it’s the only tab suspender in the world. In my own opinion, I don’t download extensions from shady developers, and I definitely don’t download extensions that stealth add permissions willy-nilly. If you are addicted to The Great Suspender, I suppose you could just opt-out of tracking. People generally don’t like being tracked, and they really don’t like being stealth tracked. Most folks involved in the conversation delete the extension anyway. Some people do believe the extension is malware. One particularly baffling comment suggests that the new maintainer has autism. People come to the conclusion that while the extension isn’t malware, the new maintainer seems malicious. Users were not notified of this change, and if you’re using TGS, you’ve automatically been opted in to this tracking.
However, an application not being malware isn’t the same as an application being safe. This technically isn’t malware, as the former developer points out. Also, it’s super weird that the only change the new dev made from June to October was to add user tracking. The Great Suspender does not need permissions to do this to function. To quote Chrome itself, that’s the ability to “observe and analyze traffic and to intercept, block, or modify requests in-flight”. Turns out that while the changes are minimal, the extension now request permission to edit web requests. Some try to argue not to jump to conclusions, but others are bitter about the whole Nano thing. Part 4: The Great Suspender is Watching YouĪ skeptical team of users decide to look a bit deeper into the code. A bit odd, considering this is something they paid for.Ĭommunity members are worried (there’s also a meager attempt to regain community control of the extension), but stuff doesn’t escalate until October.
No community announcements, no changes, nothing. The new creator doesn’t do anything for months. The original creator doesn’t want to reveal any information about this 3rd party. Not a red flag on its own, but it’s weird.
#Great tab suspender malware pro#
You don’t need a PRO account to maintain a project (none of the maintainers had one). It’s a PRO account, which is unusual to say the least.
The new maintainer is named, they have a GitHub account, they don’t immediately turn the extension into malware. Some folks ask questions, some are worried about the project being sold to a third party, but on the surface, things seem above board. The reception is actually fairly neutral. On June 19, the creator of TGS, after a long period of silence, announces that they will be transferring the maintainer role to a third party and have sold them the ownership rights.
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