📰 AI News: Malicious Chrome Extensions Are Stealing Your AI Chats And Crypto

📝 TL;DR

Several popular Chrome extensions were hijacked or built as malware, stealing crypto, passwords, and even AI chat histories from over a million users. If you use AI tools or a browser wallet, you need to treat your extensions like a live security risk today, not a someday problem.

🧠 Overview

In the last few days, security researchers and wallet providers have revealed a cluster of serious extension based attacks. A malicious Trust Wallet update drained over 7 million dollars from users, while fake AI extensions quietly siphoned private chat histories and login data from hundreds of thousands of people.

These attacks did not require you to click a dodgy link, the only step was installing or auto updating a “trusted” extension from the Chrome Web Store.

📜 The Announcement

A compromised Trust Wallet browser extension update, version 2.68, was pushed after attackers obtained a leaked API key. Between December 24 to 26, that update harvested users’ recovery phrases and enabled attackers to drain funds, with losses already estimated above 7 million dollars.

At the same time, extensions branded as “Chat GPT for Chrome” and “AI Sidebar with Deepseek” were exposed as spyware, silently exfiltrating private AI chats and session tokens from more than 900,000 users.

Other extensions, such as ones named “Phantom Shuttle,” hijacked browser traffic and routed it through attacker controlled servers to steal logins for social and education platforms. At least 35 legitimate extensions were also compromised after developers were phished, letting attackers inject code that stole session cookies and account access.

⚙️ How It Works

• Weaponized updates - Attackers get access to a developer account or API key, then push a malicious update to an existing extension that users already trust and have installed.

• Seed phrase and wallet theft - In the Trust Wallet case, the rogue version captured private recovery phrases and used them to empty wallets, even if users never typed those phrases recently.

• AI chat spyware - Fake “AI helper” extensions hooked into browser tabs and scraped entire chat histories, plus session tokens, for tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, sending them to attacker servers.

• Proxy and traffic hijacking - Extensions like “Phantom Shuttle” redirected user traffic through attacker infrastructure, which allowed them to capture logins and inject more attacks.

• Developer phishing - Hackers targeted extension creators, tricking them into running malicious scripts or sharing credentials, then used that access to add data stealing code to at least 35 genuine tools.

• Abuse of broad permissions - Many of these extensions asked to “Read and change all your data on all websites,” which, once granted, gave them near total visibility into users’ browsing and activity.

💡 Why This Matters

• Your browser is now a primary attack surface - If your business runs through Chrome, your extensions are effectively part of your security perimeter.

• AI chats are not harmless text - Prompts often contain client data, pricing, code, or credentials, so losing them can be as bad as leaking your inbox.

• Store ratings do not equal safety - These extensions had good reviews and even verification badges, yet a single update turned them into surveillance tools.

• Crypto and AI users are high value targets - The overlap between people who hold wallets and people who use advanced AI tools makes this group especially attractive to attackers.

• Convenience can become a liability - Every “nice to have” extension that accelerates your workflow is another potential doorway into your accounts and conversations.

🏢 What This Means for Businesses

• Limit extensions on work machines - Standardize a short list of approved extensions and remove everything else from devices used for client work, finance, or admin.

• Separate environments for money and AI - Use one clean browser or profile for banking and wallets with almost no extensions, and another for AI tools, browsing, and experimentation.

• Prefer official app flows - Wherever possible, use AI tools through official websites or apps instead of third party wrappers that promise extra features or sidebars.

• Bake extension checks into onboarding - Treat extension hygiene like password hygiene, include it in training for staff, contractors, and virtual assistants.

• Create a simple incident plan - Decide in advance how you will respond if a malicious extension is found, including revoking sessions, rotating passwords, moving crypto, and notifying affected clients.

🔍 What You Need To Do To Check If You’re Compromised

• Audit your extensions - In Chrome, type chrome://extensions/ into the address bar, remove any tool you do not recognize or have not used in the last month, especially AI helpers or “productivity” tools.

• Check for known bad names - If you see extensions like “Chat GPT for Chrome,” “AI Sidebar with Deepseek,” “Phantom Shuttle,” or anything you do not remember installing, remove them immediately.

• Update or replace Trust Wallet - If you use the Trust Wallet browser extension, make sure you are on version 2.69 or later, if you used version 2.68 between December 24 and 26, move funds to a brand new wallet address right away and treat the old one as compromised.

• Review extension permissions - For each remaining extension, check if it asks to “Read and change all your data on all websites,” if that level of access is not clearly necessary, uninstall it.

• Run a Chrome Safety Check - In Chrome, go to Settings, then Privacy and security, then Safety Check, run it to flag known harmful extensions and risky settings.

• Revoke sessions and reset passwords - Log into your key accounts, especially AI tools, email, banks, and exchanges, sign out of all other sessions, change your passwords, and turn on two factor authentication.

• Monitor financial and login activity - Check your bank, PayPal, and crypto wallets for any transactions you do not recognize, and review login alerts for unusual locations or devices.

🔚 The Bottom Line

These incidents show that you do not need to fall for a phishing email to get hacked, you just need one malicious or compromised extension to auto update in the background. Your browser has become one of the most important pieces of security gear you own.

Treat every extension like software that must be justified, audited, and sometimes removed. AI can still be your co pilot, but only if you stop turning your browser into an open door.

💬 Your Take

After reading this, are you planning to strip your browser down to the bare minimum, or do you feel confident that your current setup is already locked down enough for how you use AI and crypto today?

And shout out to

@Theresa Elliott

for originally highlighting this story

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