By Chris Hoffman, howtogeek.com, January 26, 2016
Most antivirus programs–or “security suites”, as they call themselves–want you to install their browser extensions.
They promise these toolbars will help keep you safe online, but they usually just exist to make the company some money. Worse yet, these extensions are often hideously vulnerable to attack.
Many antivirus toolbars are, at best, just rebranded Ask Toolbar extensions. They add a toolbar, change your search engine, and give you a new homepage. They may brand it as a “secure” search engine, but it’s really just about making the antivirus company money. But in some cases, they do more than that–and sometimes with unintended consequences.
