This article originally appeared in Information Security Buzz on January 28, 2020.

A spike in fraudulent transactions has forced the Google Security team to suspend all publishing and uploading of paid Chrome extensions to the Chrome Web store.

EXPERT COMMENTS

Mike Bittner, Associate Director of Digital Security and Operations,  The Media Trust

In the post-CCPA/GDPR world, tech companies are paying greater attention to the risks that software poses to users.

In the post-CCPA/GDPR world, tech companies are paying greater attention to the risks that software poses to users. Much of the risks stem from having no control over what impact code will have on the security and privacy of user personal data. Until tech companies know who’s running what code in the various components that make up extensions and other forms of software, the risk of fraud and theft will remain high, as will the risk of running afoul of these new privacy laws.