Piriform Has Been Hacked and Recent CCleaner Versions Compromised




/ 7 years ago

Avast Anti-Virus Acquires CCleaner Maker Piriform

Piriform is the victim of a large-scale attack.

In one of the most recent and serious hacks, CCleaner creator Piriform has been compromised. Piriform was purchased some while ago by Avast for about $1.3 billion USD, but it appears that the hackers managed to bypass its security measures. As a result, CCleaner has been compromised, at least v5.33.6162 and CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191. CCleaner is estimated to be installed on about 130 million devices, by the way. The hackers made changes to the installer packages, which could allow them to control more than two million devices.

What did they do exactly?

To be specific, they managed to install remote administration tools on CCleaner v5.33.6162 and CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191. According to Cisco’s Talos security research unit, these tools attempted to access various unregistered web pages. They then tried to download additional unauthorized programs. On the user’s side, nothing would look out of order. The bad news is that CCleaner does not have an automatic updates system. Therefore, you’ll need to check for updates manually in order to be on the safe side. You could also uninstall the app completely and install version 5.34.6207, which is safe.

Piriform

The attacks were discovered by Avast on September 12, and the company issued a clean version of CCleaner on the same day. Things were a little bit trickier with CCleaner Cloud though. The uncompromised version of that software was released on September 15. Since the hack was caught early, it looks like the people behind it only got a chance to collect some information. They weren’t forcing the compromised machines to install new programs, at least not yet.

Are you a CCleaner user, and if so, have you updated to the new version of the program?


Topics: , ,

Support eTeknix.com

By supporting eTeknix, you help us grow and continue to bring you the latest newsreviews, and competitions. Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest technology news, reviews and more. Share your favourite articles, chat with the team and more. Also check out eTeknix YouTube, where you'll find our latest video reviews, event coverage and features in 4K!

Looking for more exciting features on the latest technology? Check out our What We Know So Far section or our Fun Reads for some interesting original features.

eTeknix Facebook eTeknix Twitter eTeknix Instagram eTeknix Instagram
  • Be Social With eTeknix

    Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Reddit RSS Discord Patreon TikTok Twitch
  • Features


Send this to a friend
})