The Great Suspender was once a useful tool to use in Google Chrome's browser extension as it shuts down tabs that take too much memory, forcing the browser and page to slow down, now discovered to be malware. Users who suffer from slow Google Chrome browsing because of multiple opened tabs have been the focus of the extension.
Two new zero-days have been discovered and confirmed by Google.
However, the change of management from Dean Oemcke to an unknown developer has shifted the focus of the extension, from providing good service that helps people who run multiple tabs to being a virus in disguise. After the change, the browser extension has asked for several permissions from users to different accessibility including connecting to third-party servers.
According to Dr. Collin McMillen's public service announcement tweet, users who have been using The Great Suspender Google Chrome browser extension are in danger and should uninstall the tool now. He said that possibly, the extension has been "intentionally" running a malicious code that might be invading user privacy since November 2020.
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The Great Suspender Extension Alternatives: Malware-Free and Safe
An exploit found on Chrome for Android can replace the address bar with a fake one. This could lend an opportunity for phishing campaigns to make fake sites even more believable.
First and foremost, MSN (via the Life Hacker), reported that there is one thing to do before uninstalling The Great Suspender extension tool in one's Google Chrome to fully stop it from accessing one's browser. Head to the settings of the extension and "Unsuspend" all of the open tabs, then feel free to uninstall and discard the malware extension.
The Great Suspender Pre-Malware Version (Old)
According to GitHub, there is a tracking and malicious-free old version of The Great Suspender that is still available for users to download and use. However, the existence of the Chrome extension is unknown as its current version was already removed from the Chrome web store, and might soon be blacklisted on it.
One Tab
One Tab is a Google Chrome extension that "consolidates all tabs into a list" that effectively claims to reduce 95 percent of data and memory usage while browsing the internet. The extension has more than 2 million users and has been highly rated with 4.5 stars.
Tabs Outliner
Tabs Outliner is also available in the Chrome Webstore, and it is a "Session Manager" that helps on organizing the web browser whenever a user opens or uses it. It can close and open tabs, and retain the original text that the user is currently in, for later uses with the browser.
The Great Discarder
While this tab would be fairly new and have only 20,000+ users, it is still highly rated with 4.5 stars and helps in automatically discarding tabs that are not in use. The Great Discarder selects the least used tabs and frees memory as such.
Auto Tab Discard
Like The Great Discarder, Auto Tab Discard would automatically select tabs to close for users to free up memory and boost the speed of the Google Chrome browser despite multiple open tabs.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Isaiah Alonzo
