Impero - Chrome BHO extension

[timbo343]

We have started to see an issue with the Chrome Impero BHO where by if a student logs on to a computer and loads Chrome, the Impero BHO takes about 20 seconds to load and take effect. This means if a student has the internet disabled and when they logon to a computer, they are able to browse the internet for up to 20 seconds when using Chrome. Obviously Internet Explorer does not have this issue as the BHO is already loaded into the system.

 

We are using Mandatory profiles however i think the case will still be the same if users are using local profiles and the profile is not cached on the machine.

 

If you are reading this, please can you test it out on your network and let me know the results - i feel i may need to speak to Impero about this!

 

Here is a link to a video recording of the issue:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JEyOq33EmVAJGA9g7V_eDGfwBUyIjQVx/view?usp=sharing

[gshaw]

I noticed the same on ours while testing the Internet Blocking feature after updating to v8.4.25 to fix some issues around it not working.

 

Thought that may just be how Impero does it with the newer Chrome Extension but not ideal as per your post above.

[lmgtfy]

I've also noticed this but I guess Impero can't control how and when the extension is loaded in Chrome. @Courtney_Impero is there anything that can be done for this?

 

Thanks

[mavhc]

Add chrome's default profile with the extension already installed to the mandatory profile? Or start chrome as a background task in the login phase so it has time to install extensions

[gshaw]

Add chrome's default profile with the extension already installed to the mandatory profile? Or start chrome as a background task in the login phase so it has time to install extensions

 

Seems not to matter if Chrome has installed the extension already or not, it's more like the extension itself takes time to figure out what the current policy is after the browser opens before taking action.

[timbo343]

After speaking to Impero about this issue, the delay on the extension running on new local profiles or mandatory profiles is something we are going to have to live with.

 

I have tried adding the extension to the mandatory profile but when Chrome's default profile is created, the extension is overwriten, still taking around 15 - 20 seconds to load.

[gshaw]

After speaking to Impero about this issue, the delay on the extension running on new local profiles or mandatory profiles is something we are going to have to live with.

 

I have tried adding the extension to the mandatory profile but when Chrome's default profile is created, the extension is overwriten, still taking around 15 - 20 seconds to load.

 

What was the explanation they gave? Doesn't exactly sound like there's much effort being made to improve it?

[timbo343]

Here's what they said - red is impero, black is me:

 

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Can you try to see if it activates right away with no proxy active on the machine, a proxy can cause it to lag.

 

 

When using chrome with no Proxy it still takes just as long for it to load

 

 

Thank you for getting in touch, in the video that you have sent across it looks like it could be Chrome itself is delaying the extension install, as it's not on the browser during that 20 Seconds.

 

I have managed to replicate this and looks to be that chrome has not installed the extension yet, which unfortunately Impero cannot control. If you go to Chrome://policy you will see which policies are being applied to chrome and if chrome has to update and pull these down I would imagine it would take some brief time,

 

When you're on a page that can be monitored you will see the Impero Icon Light up which indicates that the extension is active and recording.

 

 

Thanks for replicating this.

 

I see it isn't even possible to put the extension in the mandatory profile Appdata\local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions as when Chrome starts, chrome goes to fetch the extension from the online repositories so it just re-creates the extension or if the extension is not configured in Group Policy and instead placed in the mandatory profile, Chrome just removes the extension anyway.

 

I guess this is something that we have to live with unless Impero can think of a way to get the extension to install without connecting to the Chromium repository?

 

 

No worries I have seen the same problem previously aswell.

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I do see that you can manually download the CRX file of the extension but it would have to be manually installed which would then cause issues trying to force enable, so looking at this, unfortunately, I think this wouldn't be possible

 

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As you can see it looks like it is something we are going to have to live with.

[CHiLL]

When you're on a page that can be monitored you will see the Impero Icon Light up which indicates that the extension is active and recording.[/color]

I'm interested in this because our Impero icon within Chrome is always grayed out - even though it is still getting captures and reporting them in the console.

[timbo343]

I'm interested in this because our Impero icon within Chrome is always grayed out - even though it is still getting captures and reporting them in the console.

 

But is it blocking any web requests that you have in the blocked list or if you disable the internet on a machine, surely the extension won't be working.

[CHiLL]

But is it blocking any web requests that you have in the blocked list or if you disable the internet on a machine, surely the extension won't be working.

So I've just logged on as a test student account and launched Chrome. The Impero icon was missing from next to the address bar, suggesting that the add-on hadn't loaded yet. Within 5 seconds of the browser loading, the Impero icon appeared and is grayed out.

 

Turns out I was wrong - it's grayed out on our default internally hosted landing/home page. When I then go to Google or any other site, the icon lights up.

[timbo343]

That's how it works here too. Good to hear it's working anyway even after 5 seconds.

 

Ours takes a little longer due to mandatory profiles.