Fake ES File Explorer Makes It to Play Store, Records More than 10K Downloads

CyberTech

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Nov 10, 2017
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A fake application called ES File Explorer made its way to the Google Play Store, only to bombard users with ads without actually offering any features that were included in the already-famous file manager.

Google removed ES File Explorer from the Play store earlier this year due to what was believed to be click fraud, and the parent company, DO Global, hasn’t relaunched it since then.

But because this was one of the most popular file managers on Android, it was only a matter of time until someone used its name for other malicious purposes.

Lukas Stefanko, malware researcher at security company ESET, discovered the fake ES File Explorer and reported it on Twitter, explaining that once installed, this app bombards users with ads.

“App has no functionality and within 2 minutes displayed 9 fullscreen ads while "setting up" the app. To look trustworthy, it requests registration,” Stefanko notes.

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