Browser Extensions: The Great, the O.K. and the Very Ugly

Would you like to browse the internet without having ads in your face the whole time? Adblock Plus removes ads from webpages that you're looking at to create a cleaner and prettier internet for you to use. It's a program that extends the normal functionality of your internet browser: a browser extension. There are some really great extensions out there in addition to Adblock Plus that are worth using: HoverZoom, Chrome remote desktop, and google mail checker among others.

Have you ever had a virus on your computer where it changed your homepage, you're randomly using a different search engine by default, and ads are coming up out of nowhere? A lot of malware out there gets on your computer through a bad browser extension. They can disguise themselves as something you may want to install or don't mind installing, but then they collect lots of data about you, give you ads to look at everywhere and generally are an extreme annoyance. When you get a chance, look at what extensions (add-ons for firefox and IE uses) you have installed and make sure you know what each of them does and makes sure that you want them. If you see a screen that looks like the photo below, you need to remove all those extensions, or better yet, reset your browser to defaults.

Browser extensions like most other things online can provide great benefit when used properly, but when abused they can be harmful. Be mindful of the extensions you have and you will keep the malware at bay.