Can extensions (add-ons) like Country Flag, Flagfox, Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin, Ghostery, Norton etc. pose security risks to internet banking ?
Two weeks ago I noticed that the location of the server changed (Germany, The Netherlands vice versa) during my 1 hour visit to the website of my bank. The bank suggests that the extension Country Flag poses a threat so I was adviced to remove this. However, I don't think that this add-on operates like a proxy server. What is the opinion of Firefox and its users/forum ?
All Replies (4)
I doubt those software pose a problem but they might block each other and also block you from properly accessing your Online Banking.
So far I have not encountered any problems due to blocking. But the real issue is whether Country Flag is causing security risks, see the explanation of my question
Any add-on can cause security risks, which is why it is suggested that you only install extensions from developers you trust. I don't know much about Country Flag, but it doesn't seem to serve a useful purpose, so if you're nervous about it feel free to remove it.
IMO, follow the advice that your banks offers.
Not a user of that extension, but I used a different "country flag" extension many years ago to see the server location that I was being connected to and found that it slowed down Firefox immensely many times. I also had concerns about it being able to track me; although it is hard to strike a real comparison, the API the current version would use is far different than the one I 'tested'.