CCleaner Malware Hack: What to Know and How to Protect Yourself

If you use a software tool called CCleaner to keep your Windows PC humming smoothly, keep reading: the utility was just indicted by Piriform, the British company that makes CCleaner, in a troubling blog post. In short, it seems a recent version of CCleaner — as well as related product CCleaner Cloud (the online version) — were infiltrated by hackers and weaponized with malware of the sort that harvests and transmits user data for nefarious purposes. The activity was discovered on September 12, and while Piriform says it’s already patched CCleaner Cloud, users running CCleaner will need to upgrade immediately. Here’s everything you need to know. What is CCleaner? CCleaner, which software maker Piriform bills as “the number-one tool for cleaning your PC,” is a software optimization tool designed to tidy up Windows PCs by removing extraneous software and browser data. It’s available in both free and paid versions, including a professional business profile. All versions include claimed computer speedups and privacy protection, while the paid versions add extras like real-time monitoring, scheduling, automatic updates and better support. CCleaner Cloud is the online version of the tool, designed to perform similar duties but on a broad array of computers centrally controlled through a web browser. Since Piriform controls this version of the tool in-house, it’s already been updated to eliminate the malware, says the company. What jus...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized avast ccleaner malware Software Source Type: news