In today's digital age, cybersecurity threats are on the rise, and it's more important than ever to take steps to protect your online activities, especially as more organizations adopt the working remotely model. The remote work model deems it necessary for people to share more and more information digitally than through the traditional means that are becoming obsolete.

The rate at which people exchange information online has exponentially increased, and it’s now easy to confuse a phishing email for a legitimate one, especially with the alarming evolving rate of social engineering attacks. More people are relying on browsing the net to transact business and get answers to daily queries; to secure your online activities, you need a browser extension.

However, not all browser extensions are created equal; therefore, you must study their features before choosing one.

This article will focus on five critical features for a secure browser extension in the era of digitalized business processes and heightening cybersecurity threats.

1. Virtual private network (VPN)

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, has become a crucial software to enhance online security and privacy. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a secure server, making it much harder for your internet service provider (ISP), hackers, and other third parties to intercept and access your sensitive information.

Since some browser extensions offer limited VPN functionality, choosing a reliable and trustworthy VPN provider for maximum security and privacy is crucial. A dedicated VPN service will provide strong encryption and more advanced features, such as masking IP addresses and accessing geo-restricted content.

Integrating a VPN into a browser extension can provide the added security layer and privacy your online activities require. It should protect you from cyberattacks, prevent your ISP from tracking your online activities, and allow you to access restricted content in your location.

When choosing a VPN provider, you must comprehensively research their privacy policy and user reviews to ensure their trustworthiness and reliability. Your browser extension should offer fast connection speeds for a seamless browsing experience.

2. Log encryption

Encryption is a process that enciphers your data so that it can be gibberish for unintended prying eyes. A secure browser extension should provide end-to-end encryption for all the internet traffic between your browser and the internet, ensuring that any sensitive information you transmit online is secure before getting to the intended recipient.

A hacker who intercepts your end-to-end encrypted data won't be able to read it. Many secure browser extensions leverage SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security) encryption to protect your sensitive information.

SSL/TLS is a reliable and renowned protocol that encrypts data in transit between your browser and any website you may wish to visit.

3. Checkmating email phishing attacks

Hackers deploy email phishing attacks to steal personal information from unsuspecting individuals and organizations; a phishing scam typically involves an email or message that appears to be from a trusted source, such as a bank or social media website. Usually, the message asks you to provide sensitive information, such as your username and password, to resolve issues that cropped up with your banking process.

A secure browser extension must have an anti-phishing feature that can identify and avoid these scams. The anti-phishing feature will analyze the content of web pages and emails to detect signs of phishing scams.

For instance, it might look for misspellings or grammatical errors in the text, or it might verify the legitimacy of the URL of a website. If the browser extension detects a phishing scam, it will either block the website or alert you that it’s insecure.

4. Password manager

Passwords are vital for logging in to your online accounts; hence, you must secure them. Your browser extension must have a password manager feature, which you need to generate strong passwords for all your online accounts and store them securely.

A secure browser extension with a password manager will automatically fill in your username and password whenever you visit a website, saving you time and reducing the risk of a data breach.

Your browser extension’s password manager should also come equipped with a password generator that will generate strong passwords that prove difficult to crack by hackers when they deploy the brute force attack. Generating strong passwords is crucial for your online security because weak passwords are one of the most common ways hackers can access your accounts.

5. Multifactor authentication

Multifactor authentication is an extra layer of security that requires you to provide other forms of identification, such as fingerprint, eye scan, and facial recognition, apart from your password, before accessing an account. A secure browser extension should support multifactor authentication to help secure your accounts.

By requiring more than a means of identification, multifactor authentication makes it much harder for hackers to access your accounts. Even if a hacker cracks the password, accessing your account will require at least one other form of identification.

Conclusion

End-to-end encryption, VPN, checkmating email phishing attacks, password manager, and multifactor authentication are all essential features that can help protect your online activities and keep your accounts safe when using a browser extension. By choosing a browser extension with must-have features, you can better protect your online activities and stay one step ahead in curbing the menace of cybercriminals.