Is Explore News safe to use?

Explore News has a security risk score of 23.87/100 (LOW risk). Our security analysis detected 22 findings. Review the detailed security assessment below to understand the specific risks before installation.

What are the security risks of Explore News?

Based on our automated security analysis, Explore News presents low risk level. The extension is analyzed for malware patterns, secret exposure, network communications, permissions, and supply chain vulnerabilities.

How is the security score calculated?

Risky Plugins calculates security scores using weighted categories: severity of findings (25 points max), malware detections (35 points), secret exposure (28 points), network communications (10 points), and obfuscation (10 points). Scores range from 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater risk.

What does CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW, MINIMAL risk mean?

CRITICAL (80-100): Severe security issues like malware. HIGH (60-79): Significant vulnerabilities. MEDIUM (40-59): Moderate security concerns. LOW (20-39): Minor issues. MINIMAL (0-19): Very low risk. Always review findings before installing any extension.

Tracked campaign: searchjacked

Our analysis confirmed the behaviour described in the threat library entry. Read the analysis and indicators →

Also reported by socket.dev

Chrome Web Store

Explore News

by [email protected] · 8 users

5e8bc67e-24d1-5acc-93c5-169fc6ccfe5d | v1.0.1

LOW risk

Threat verdict

Do not install

Confirmed member of a tracked malicious supply-chain campaign.

Analysis record

Analysed: 3 months ago
Version: v1.0.1
Artifact: SHA256 70C…749
Source: Findings (non-IoC)

Network indicator detail is shown below

22 aggregate findings were counted. 22 network indicators contributed to the aggregate finding count.

Show network indicators (22)

Publisher Evidence

Limited evidence

[email protected]

Publisher identity, store signals, distribution reach, and warning signals used for context. Treat this as supporting evidence, not a clean bill of health.

Chrome does not expose the same publisher verification data as IDE stores, so this score is deliberately conservative.

Noisy-finding weight

x1.00

Publisher domain

No domain

Missing

Store verification signal

Limited signal

Limited

Extension portfolio

Portfolio

12 evidence rows available.

Finding Categories

IoC Indicators

Requested Permissions

3 permissions

declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess

Low

storage

Low

*://explorenews.co/*

Low

Security Analysis Summary

Security Analysis Overview

Explore News is a Chrome Web Store extension published by [email protected]. Version 1.0.1 has been analyzed by the Risky Plugins security platform, receiving a risk score of 23.87/100 (LOW risk) based on 22 security findings.

Risk Assessment

This extension presents low security risk. Some minor findings were detected, but nothing that would prevent typical usage. Reviewing the detailed findings below is recommended before use in sensitive environments.

Findings Breakdown

Medium: 22 finding(s)

What Was Analyzed

The security assessment covers multiple analysis categories:

Malware Detection: YARA rule matching against 2,400+ malware signatures
Secret Detection: Scanning for exposed API keys, tokens, and credentials
Static Analysis: Code-level security analysis for common vulnerability patterns
Network Analysis: Detection of suspicious network communications and endpoints
Obfuscation Detection: Identification of code obfuscation techniques

Developer Information

Explore News is published by [email protected] on the Chrome Web Store marketplace. The extension has approximately 8 users.

Recommendation

Based on the automated security analysis, this extension appears safe for general use. As with any extension, users should review the requested permissions before installation.

Source Code Viewer

Source Code Not Available

Source code is not available for this version of the extension.

About This Extension

Enable the News Mode toggle to access trusted news sources like CNN, PBS, The New York Times and CNBC, —all within one easy-to-use browser tool. When the toggle is off, your searches will default to explorenews.co, powered by Yahoo, delivering search results for you. By proceeding and clicking "Add to Chrome", you confirm that you have read and agreed to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and consent to the installation of this extension. https://explorenews.co/privacy-policy https://explorenews.co/terms-of-service Chrome is a trademark of Google LLC. Yahoo is a registered trademark of Yahoo Inc. All third-party names and trademarks are owned by their respective holders. This extension has no affiliation or endorsement from any of the referenced parties. Permissions Used: 1. Read and modify your data on this product This access ensures we can personalize your experience by adapting content to your preferences. It also helps us maintain security and prevent unauthorized use. Your browsing data is only accessible within the domain of the extension, guaranteeing that your privacy is respected. 2. Change your search setting to explorenews.co This allows the extension to set explorenews.co as your default search engine. By doing so, it ensures that every search query made from your browser’s address bar is automatically directed to explorenews.co, giving you a consistent, seamless search experience.

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