Last month hackers attacked free optimisation solution for computers and mobile devices. It was a quite popular program CCleaner from British company Piriform. The cybercriminals hid a code inside CCleaner with which they could gain control over tens of millions of devices.
Windows and Android device users download and install CCleaner approximately 5 million times each week. It is popular for a reason: it one of the most effective tools to clean your device from unnecessary files and apps and, consequently, improve the performance of the system. CCleaner is the main product of company Piriform, which is based in London. The company was purchased by Avast last July. On the moment of purchase 130 million people were using the free version of this solution.
Two versions that were hacked in August contained tools for remote control, which sought the connection to few unlicensed sites. It is believed that those sites were dedicated for transferring malware onto user’s computer. The investigators claim, that it was a very complex attack. Firstly, the hackers were able to find a hole in an established and reliable product. Secondly, the users who were attacked could not notice the intervention.
On the same day when the hack was detected, Avast released a patched version. It is strongly recommended to update CCleaner now, as the product does not get automatic updates. The latest update was released just in time; hackers were only gathering information about the device and no malware was installed at the point.