152 Chrome extensions exposed for hidden tracking and fake search traffic.
Researchers reported that 152 “live wallpaper” Chrome extensions were secretly logging user data and generating fake Google organic-search traffic. The extensions were spread across 38 publisher accounts and three brands, with about 105,000 reported users as a lower-bound estimate. Their Chrome Web Store privacy disclosures claimed they did not collect user data, but the linked privacy policies described logging IP addresses, browser details, ISP, timestamps, click counts, and device information. A subset of the extensions allegedly forged Google organic attribution by opening operator-controlled pages with utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic. The main risk described was deceptive telemetry and advertising-measurement fraud rather than full device compromise.