Thousands of anti-Tesla protesters took to the streets Saturday March 29th in opposition to Elon Musk and his efforts with DOGE to eliminate humanitarian aid, close federal agencies, and fire government workers. It was the culmination of nearly two months of steady, almost daily demonstrations aimed at hurting Tesla’s sales — and ultimately Musk himself. Today was billed as a “Global Day of Action” with protests targeting hundreds of Tesla locations in the US, Canada, and Europe.
Technology
We went to 10 anti-Tesla protests — and a couple counter protests, too
The Verge wanted to check the temperature and see how these protesters were thinking about this current moment, and whether they felt their boycott was having its desired effect. Tesla sales have slid significantly since the protests started, and its stock has shed a lot of its value. But Musk shows no signs of being deterred, as he ramps up his threats to sic the government on anti-Tesla forces.
So we fanned out across the globe, from London to New York to Washington, DC to Los Angeles — and Paramus, NJ and Akron, Ohio too — to observe the movement as it enters it third month and talk to the people who opted to spend a good chunk of a Saturday afternoon waving signs and shouting about Musk and Tesla. We even saw several counter protesters who came out to support Musk — and Tesla.
London’s Tesla Takedown protest was a small affair, with 50-odd protestors, one dinosaur, and an inflatable Elon making that salute all perched outside a Tesla showroom in Park Royal, a neighborhood otherwise dominated by big box retailers, self-storage units, and ghost kitchens. But it’s come a long way since its humble beginnings six weeks ago, when it was just two protestors getting “kicked out of the Westfield shopping mall by security,” according to organizer John Gorenfeld.
Gorenfeld is a Californian, but this protest was English to a fault: polite, peaceful, and a little quiet. There was no police presence, and nor was one needed; even a Tesla pulling in didn’t attract much ire from the crowd. Fortunately, passing drivers were there to provide the noise — a “Honk If You Hate Elon” sign was answered by a chorus of cars, trucks, and at least one city bus. Londoners may not have come out in force, but it’s pretty clear where the city’s sympathies lie.
On a busy shopping street in Georgetown, DC, protesters are dancing outside a Tesla showroom to everything from “Hot to go,” to “Under Pressure,” to the viral TikTok hostile takeover song. They’re wearing a mix of shiny boas, boat captain hats, and floral shirts. The loosely boat-themed dance party has been attracting a steady stream of honks from passing cars, and many pedestrians are stopping to gleefully take pictures. “Nazi cars sold here,” says one sign, “Porsche = fast, Ferrari = faster, Tesla = fascist,” says another.
“Part of how fascism operates is they want people to be fearful,” says Sara Steffens, part of a team that calls themselves Dance Against DOGE. Steffens dons a floral outfit and a captain’s hat that she says symbolizes how the people are in charge of their destiny, rather than Trump and Musk. “Bullies operate on fear and they want us to be afraid of them … so this is like a full force showing.”
The mix of attendees appears to span many ages, and one of the groups rallying older generations to get involved is Third Act. Mark, an attendee affiliated with Third Act who declined to give his last name, said it was important to be at the protest “as someone with two grandchildren, trying to do something so that they can grow up in a place that’s safe.”
Cruise down Route 17 in north New Jersey and you’ll see a ton of car dealerships. But for the past few weeks, none have seen quite as much action as the Tesla dealership near Paramus. Each weekend, protestors of all ages have been holding up signs at the side of the highway, encouraging drivers to sell their Teslas, dump their stock, and honk against fascism. Today, the vibe is a little different.
The pro-Trumpers are here too — and the lines are clearly drawn.
“Last week, it was just us here,” says Ethan, a protester wearing a Super Mario Bros. Luigi cap and holding a sign that reads “Cyberfucked.” “Now all these Trump guys are here, walking around, doing whatever they want.”
Ethan, who declined to give his last name, says he’s been hassled by the Trump and Musk supporters. They’ve called him slurs, thrown water at him, and tried to grab his sign before a fellow protestor calmed the situation down. He says one Trump supporter told him his Luigi hat was offensive to Italian Americans. When I ask Ethan why he’s here today, he says “Because I fucking hate Elon Musk.” Then after a bit of thought, he adds, “We’re kind of screwed. It might not be much, but I want to at least say something and be heard by someone.”
On the other side, the Trump camp isn’t as concerned about holding up signs. They’re more milling about, grouping off into mini clusters. (They do, however, have many signs that read “Thank you Elon” and “Trump won.”) When I ask to speak to the organizer, I’m directed to John Tabacco — who wears a light blue blazer with prints of President Trump’s face.
“We need to show that there is support for what Elon Musk and DOGE is doing,” Tabacco says. He also takes issue when I characterize the pro-Trump crowd as a counterprotest. “This is a rally for us. A support rally for Trump, DOGE, and America-first policies. And I think those people,” he says, pointing to the anti-Tesla group, “Those people showed up today as counter-protesters.”
Tesla service center here is closed on weekends. It’s just off Route 18, at an intersection that services a shopping center with a Home Depot, Chick-fil-A, a local bar chain called The Winking Lizard, and more. The turnout is surprising, about 40-50 people (and two very good dogs) are lined up on both sides of the street waving signs and ringing cowbells. There’s a man with a bullhorn rousing the crowd with slogans, “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do?” he yells. “Fight back!” The crowd responds.
There’s a variety of people here, including a lot more gray and white hair folks using scooters and wheelchairs. A woman in a high-visibility vest said she and a lot of the older people here came on behalf of Third Act Ohio, an activist group for folks over 60. It’s hard to hear her as people continuously drive by, honking their horns in support.
Arriving 20 minutes before the event, it was quiet, even though organizers were expecting the crowd to be large, with last week’s attendance estimated around 1,300. They were right. Within ten minutes the plaza was full of attendees with a diversity of signage ranging from “Deport Elon Musk”, “Stop the Attack on Democracy”, “Hands off our Social Security” plus many others.
Photo by Victoria Barrios / The Verge
Even though the crowd is large, organizers emphasize their message over the speakers; this is a peaceful non-violent protest. This is similar to what one of the organizers told me as well, “Despite what the administration is saying, we’re not domestic terrorists, we are absolutely peaceful, nonviolent, we provide guidance and say no harassment of the Tesla showroom. We just want to make our voices heard.”
Photo by Victoria Barrios / The Verge
Alice Grimm said this is about bringing down the power of the billionaire. “From Elon Musk’s perspective, any dollar that doesn’t go to him is wasted and efficiency is whatever fills his pocket. And so Tesla, where most of his wealth is, if what he cares about is that element, then trying to drive down the stock price of Tesla, that attacks Elon’s power.”
Long Beach and Lakewood, California:
“I was on my way to another anti-Elon protest,” a woman named Nati said, while holding two signs at a Supercharger location in Lakewood. “I had to stop here when I saw everyone out.”
As Tesla owners pulled in and out, around 100 people stood on the sidewalk protesting. Most Tesla owners remained in their cars or went into nearby stores, largely avoiding the large crowd chanting, “This is what Democracy looks like,” and waving at passing cars that honked in support.
A man who asked to be identified as Sam set up a folding table and sold anti-Musk and Trump goods to passersby, though most at the Supercharger had brought their own homemade signs and wore shirts with “Gulf of Mexico,” and “Biden Harris,” emblazoned on them.
“I was on my way to another anti-Elon protest. I had to stop here when I saw everyone out.”
At a Tesla dealership a few miles away, in Long Beach, around 250 people lined the sidewalks on both sides of a busy four-lane road near a Home Depot and Costco that is packed on the weekends. As drivers drove past, people honked, cheered, and pumped their fists out their car windows, showing support.
The protests in Long Beach were peaceful, with protestors remaining on public property, cheering as people honked in support, but a tiny number of Trump and Musk supporters did show up to troll the crowds.
At the Supercharger location, a family decided to engage the protesters, yelling that they were “stupid. ” Their young daughter, who looked to be around ten years old, screamed profanities at the protesters. A pair of police SUVs were parked across the street, keeping an eye on things, and one lone Musk supporter lingered nearby holding a sign thanking Musk.
An anti-Tesla protester who asked not to be identified said that she’d been at another protest in Long Beach in late February when a truck driver rolled down his window and tried to pepper spray the protesters. No one was hurt, but the woman said that it did concern her. “You just don’t know how people are going to respond to exercising your right to free speech,” she said.
Hundreds of protesters marched and chanted in front of a Tesla showroom in the Meatpacking District in New York City. The mood was lively and enthusiastic as protesters waved signs, danced in flaming cardboard Cybertruck costumes, and smashed toy cars on the sidewalk with a hammer. A moment of silence was held for a large portion of the crowd to lay down on the street with cardboard signs shaped like gravestones to stage a “die in” in front of the Tesla showroom.
The protest was peaceful but there were two separate instances where protesters started shouting out for others not to engage with two men holding out microphones and asking questions. In the second instance of this, police that were surrounding the building came over to prevent one of these interviewers from engaging with the protesters. The man being escorted out of the crowd still held a microphone, walked backwards smiling and said “crackhead, come here” gesturing towards one of the protesters for an interview.
Slogans on signs varied in intensity. One sign depicted Elon Musk dressed as Emperor Palpatine that read, “Strike down Darth Ketamine, Congress must!!!” Another banner held by a group of three protesters read, “Burn A Tesla Save Democracy.”
Aside from some raised voices, there weren’t any violent altercations. The turnout at this protest was about three times larger than the protest at the same location a week earlier. As the protest neared its end there were chants of “we’ll be back” from the crowd. They were ready to come back for more.
Samsung has released a new advertisement for its upcoming Galaxy S26 launch that all-but confirms rumors of a new display with a built-in privacy mode. Leaked videos show that the feature could be capable of entirely blacking out content from specific apps or parts of the display when viewed at an angle.
The new advert shows a woman reading a racy romance novel on a subway, while curious passengers look over her shoulder. An overlay shows a quick flick of a “Zero-peeking privacy” toggle, which blacks out the titillating content for the nosy onlookers.
That might sound similar to existing privacy filters, which have been available as after-market screen protectors for years, or found built into products including certain HP laptops. But leaks say what Samsung has in store for the S26 range is different.
It will reportedly use a new type of OLED panel that Samsung Display first debuted two years ago at MWC 2024 called Flex Magic Pixel. It allows viewing angles to be adjusted on a pixel-by-pixel basis, so the privacy effect is only applied to certain parts of the screen at a time. Combined with some AI, that means it could automatically protect sensitive information in a banking app, or be used to hide notifications in a messaging app, as shown in this short video clip shared by the reliable leaker Ice Universe.
We’ll find out more soon enough — Samsung has confirmed that its Unpacked launch event will take place later this month, on February 25th.
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Fake browser extensions are nothing new, but this one takes things a step further by deliberately breaking your computer to scare you into infecting it.
Security researchers have uncovered a malicious Chrome and Edge extension called NexShield that pretends to be a fast, privacy-friendly ad blocker. Once installed, it crashes your browser on purpose and then tricks you into “fixing” the problem by running dangerous commands on your own PC.
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MALICIOUS GOOGLE CHROME EXTENSIONS HIJACK ACCOUNTS
A fake Chrome and Edge extension called NexShield crashes browsers to trick users into running malicious commands. (Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
How the NexShield ad blocker scam works
NexShield was promoted as a lightweight ad blocker supposedly created by Raymond Hill, the real developer behind the popular uBlock Origin extension. That claim was false, but it helped the extension look legitimate enough to spread through online ads and search results before it was taken down from the Chrome Web Store.
Once installed, NexShield immediately starts abusing Chrome or Edge in the background. Researchers at Huntress found that it opens endless internal browser connections until your system runs out of memory (via Bleeping Computer). Tabs freeze, CPU usage spikes, RAM fills up and the browser eventually hangs or crashes completely.
After you restart the browser, NexShield displays a scary pop-up warning that claims your system has serious security problems. When you click to “scan” or “fix” the issue, you’re shown instructions telling you to open Command Prompt and paste a command that’s already been copied to your clipboard.
That single paste is the trap. The command launches a hidden PowerShell script that downloads and runs malware. To make detection harder, the attackers delay the payload execution for up to an hour after installation, creating distance between the extension and the damage it causes.
Why this fake browser extension attack is especially dangerous
This campaign is a new variation of the well-known ClickFix scam, which relies on convincing you to run commands yourself. Huntress calls this version CrashFix because instead of faking a system failure, it causes a real one.
In corporate environments, the attack delivers a Python-based remote access tool called ModeloRAT. This malware allows attackers to spy on systems, run commands, change system settings, add more malware and maintain long-term access. Researchers say the threat group behind it, tracked as KongTuke, appears to be shifting focus toward enterprise networks where the payoff is higher.
Home users weren’t the primary target in this campaign, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. Even if the final payload was unfinished for consumer systems, uninstalling the extension alone is not enough. Some malicious components can remain behind. The biggest danger here isn’t a browser bug. It’s trust. The attack works because it looks like a helpful fix from a trusted tool, and it pressures you to act quickly while your system feels broken.
“Microsoft Defender provides built in protections to help identify and stop malicious or unwanted browser extensions and the harmful behaviors associated with them,” Tanmay Ganacharya, VP of Microsoft Threat Protection, told CyberGuy. “Our security technologies are designed to detect and mitigate tactics like the ones described in this campaign, and they are continuously updated to help keep customers safe. We encourage consumers and organizations to follow our security best practices for reducing exposure to social engineering based threats. Guidance on strengthening your security posture against techniques like this can be found in our blog, Think Before You Click(Fix): Analyzing the ClickFix Social Engineering Technique, on the Microsoft Security blog.”
We also reached out to Google for comment.
7 steps you can take to stay safe from malicious browser extensions
A few smart habits and the right tools can dramatically reduce your risk, even when malicious extensions slip past official app stores.
1) Only install extensions from trusted publishers
Before installing any browser extension, check the publisher name, official website and update history. Reputable tools clearly identify their developer and have years of user reviews. Be cautious of “new” extensions that claim to come from well-known creators, especially if the name or branding looks slightly off.
2) Never run unknown commands
No legitimate browser extension will ever ask you to open Command Prompt or paste a command to fix an issue. That’s a massive red flag. If something breaks your browser and then tells you to run system commands, close it and seek help from a trusted source.
3) Use a strong antivirus
Strong antivirus software can detect malicious scripts, suspicious PowerShell activity and remote access tools like ModeloRAT. This is especially important because these attacks rely on delayed execution that basic defenses might miss.
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
MALICIOUS MAC EXTENSIONS STEAL CRYPTO WALLETS AND PASSWORDS
After freezing your browser, the rogue extension urges users to paste a PowerShell command that installs malware. (Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images)
4) Use a password manager to limit fallout
If malware gains access to your system, stored browser passwords are often the first target. A password manager keeps credentials encrypted and separate from your browser, reducing the risk of account takeover even if something slips through.
Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.
Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.
5) Keep Windows, Chrome and Edge fully updated
Security updates don’t just patch bugs. They also improve protection against malicious extensions, script abuse and unauthorized system changes. Turn on automatic updates so you’re not relying on memory to stay protected.
6) Consider an identity theft protection service
If malware ever runs on your system, assume personal data could be at risk. Identity protection services can monitor for misuse of your information, alert you early and help with recovery if fraud occurs.
Identity Theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security Number (SSN), phone number and email address, and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals.
See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com.
7) Reduce your online footprint with a data removal service
Many attacks become more effective when criminals already have your personal details. Data removal services help pull your information from broker sites, making it harder for attackers to craft convincing follow-up scams or targeted phishing.
While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
FAKE ERROR POPUPS ARE SPREADING MALWARE FAST
Security researchers say the NexShield ad blocker scam deliberately overloads memory to force a system crash. (Photo by Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Kurt’s key takeaway
Cybercriminals are getting better at blending technical tricks with psychological pressure. Instead of relying on exploits alone, they break things on purpose and wait for you to panic. If a browser extension crashes your system and then tells you to “fix” it by running commands, stop immediately. The safest response is not to fix the problem fast, but to question why you’re being asked to fix it at all.
How many browser extensions are installed on your computer right now? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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