Webex Meetings Browser Extension Security – Webex
When installing a browser extension, it’s important to carefully read over any warnings provided by the browser first. Find out how secure the Cisco Webex Meetings browser extension is for use with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.
Developers are able to add modules that extend access to browser data through the use of browser extensions, which allows for the delivery of the best possible app experiences. When a user visits a Webex site to initiate a meeting or join an existing one, the Webex extensions for Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari make it possible for the user to run the Webex Meetings desktop program.
The level of granularity at which browser platform permissions are set places constraints on the amount of data that an extension can access. When an extension requires access to surfing data, browsers instead display a strong warning to users, asking them to confirm that they trust the addition that they are installing. This is due to the fact that browsers are currently unable to limit the permissions that extensions are granted.
When installing any extension that needs to connect to the page, for instance, Safari’s guidelines for the installation of third-party extensions (which may be found here) show that a severe warning will occur during the installation process. Even though harmful extensions are able to take advantage of the expanded access, there are extensions available from sources that can be relied on to make the user’s experience safer.
Cisco is an industry leader in security and is dedicated to safeguarding the information of both our customers and our business partners. Additionally, Cisco is dedicated to establishing trust with its partners and customers through maintaining an open and honest relationship with them. You can learn more about our commitment to honesty, openness, and accountability here.
When a specifically designed string is found in the page that is being loaded, the Webex extension will not be loaded and will not be activated by the browser until the browser finds the string. The extension will never read any data from the website that is currently being loaded; rather, the page will utilize it to run the desktop application.
When a user visits a page with a *.webex.com domain, the user’s browser will automatically load the Webex extension, which will enable the user to begin or join a meeting.
Because the extension’s source code is installed on users’ computers, technically aware people can verify the full scope of the operations performed by the extension. The majority of endpoint security businesses and software online reputation companies also keep an eye out for potentially dangerous extensions and alert both the community and end users when they find any.
Take note that Cisco Webex provides an in-depth explanation of its data collecting and privacy practices in this section.
To summarize:
- Because of constraints imposed by browsers, browser extensions cannot make requests for restricted rights to access browsing data. Browsers will display severe warnings by default to ensure that users are aware of the potential harm that can be caused by extensions and only install extensions obtained from reliable sources.
- The code for the JavaScript extension is installed on the user’s desktop and is accessible to tech-savvy users as well as security products for evaluation.
- Cisco Webex is an industry-leading security company that has earned the confidence of millions of users. We are dedicated to the safety of our clients and partners.
- The Webex plugin does not read the content of any web pages; it only interacts with those pages that are related to Webex Meetings.
- Cisco has a data gathering and privacy statement that has been made public.