Google — always with you
Over the last decade or so, Google has dominated the search and browsing industry. With multiple products to support its goals, it’s only obvious why Google is the provider of choice. Its suite of products ensures that “wherever they [users] go, a Google search is not hard to do.” says VisualCapitalist.com.
A browser, extensions to simplify browsing, search advertising, one of the fastest result times (and more) helps Google win every time. Google has outpaced its competitors in the search industry and has over 60% market dominance to prove it. Mozilla Firefox, once a preferred browser, now only accounts for 7% of market share.
The negative impacts of a Google-opoly
Being so dominant, and unchecked, has led to downsides for Google’s users. Disguised under speedy search results and seamless interfacing lie web crawlers that do the work. However, these web crawlers have been cloned by their malicious counterparts.
The result being, no information is truly safe. In fact, the opposite of safe, information is harvested and shared with third-parties. Even with opt-out functionality, Google allows sharing by default, also a feature Microsoft’s browser.
Your browsing information is being made available to strangers and you are tricked into consent via the fine print.
The additional downside to users of Google is that hackers see it as a honey-pot. Being financially motivated means that a hacker is likely to do the least amount of work for the highest payout.
For Google, having the highest number of users makes it extremely vulnerable (and enticing to malicious outsiders). Hackers can maximize their output in a single stroke of malevolent code.
Repeated attacks on Google
Hackers have found weak spots in Google’s software several times in the last few years. In 2015, Google Drive was infected by malware, affecting millions of users of its cloud computing services.
Following that, extensions have been repeatedly compromised.
As recently as September 4, 2018, according to SerHack’s website “an unknown attacker managed to hack into MEGA’s Google Chrome web store account and upload a malicious version of an extension to the web store.” For context, SerHack was the developer that first notified users of the breach.
In the cryptocurrency world, this hack had devastating effects for those with stores of virtual currencies in their online wallets. According to MetaCert Protocol, the hack meant that anyone who had “credentials for sites including amazon.com, live.com, github.com, google.com (for webstore login), myetherwallet.com, mymonero.com, idex.market” and more would have had these credentials routed to a server located in Ukraine.
Worse still is that the extension was only hacked on Google Chrome. The same extension on Mozilla Firefox remained safe. According to MEGA’s spokesperson, this happened because Google has done away with several protections that could have kept users safe. The vulnerability in the extension was, therefore, not spotted in time and affected several hundreds of thousands of people in the bargain.
A blessing in disguise, Firefox’s lack of popularity and continued robustness in process kept users of Mozilla Firefox safe from a similar tragedy.
Firefox is taking steps in a positive direction by removing the default tracking of user activity on its browser. However, no matter what, traditional browsers remain centralized. And if Firefox was to be compromised, data would invariably become compromised.
Will traditional technology and browsers be enough?
Metalyfe recognizes the risk that this presents to the community. With risk being amplified every day, there is no justification for unsafe browsing. This lack of privacy must be checked. As such, Metalyfe has developed a blockchain browser for secure, safe, unmonitored and rewards-based browsing.
Metalyfe is a user-friendly blockchain browser where users own their own data. No centralized databases and no one monetizing and profiting from your online activities but yourself.
The account creation process is decentralized and requires both password and seed phrase. As a logged user you can save and reopen online environments, which makes your browsing experience faster, easier and more fun.
And as you would expect from any other browser, Metalyfe also includes:
- AdBlock
- Bookmarks
- History
- Fast browsing
- Guest mode
- Decentralized log-in and personalized settings
- Free of charge — everything
We will continue to strive to create the most secure environment for interacting with the digital world. Stay tuned for further updates on how we are ensuring your safety and security through the Metalyfe browser.