http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/09/18/hackers-malware-pc-ccleaner/

I thought the product was reliable. I thought the download sites were reliable. Not a peep out of my anti-virus and anti-malware programs. Sigh.

Apparently not everyone. Confirmed:

https://www.cnet.com/news/hackers-hid-malicious-code-in-popular-ccleaner-software/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Hanlon’s razor is an eponymous adage named after Robert J. Hanlon that states: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

JamesD

Never used neither recommended CCleaner.

Just because it not being as good tool as popular. Also using most popular softwares is frequently linked with higher risks.

Top softwares - top security vulnerabilities. This is the rule.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/how-to/security/ccleaner-malware-incident-what-you-need-to-know-and-how-to-remove/

http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/09/ccleaner-c2-concern.html

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-floxif-ccleaner-trojan#self-help



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2017 07:40AM by panzer.

I was kind of shocked when I read this earlier but I decided sometime ago to quit updating CCleaner. I am using portable version 4.19.4867 and it is still as good as ever for my older ThinkPad ... maybe newer computers need the latest CCleaner version but anyone with an older CCleaner version should be OK ... if I am correct? ... before the hacking?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2017 04:28PM by callahan.

A very long time ago (in computer terms, certainly...) I realized that a full 99% of all 'updates' in the windows realm ONLY serve other's purposes - and not my own.

The s/w this thread is about falls directly into that category IMO.

In its older, portable version it suffices to clean up excess temp files & such which tend to gather in the systems of users who are not going to do their own file maintenance chores - and is quite good enough for such a simple chore.

OS 'updates' and 'upgrades' also fall into this category - which is why I stopped my own windows clock at XP.

There is a very simple, easy 'cure' for what I've come to call 'the updating virus':
Just....don't...do...it....anymore.
(Of course this entire scenario is very different for Linux users !!)

smallhagrid ... that's what I was thinking about having the portable version installed and it also being an older version, I should be good to go or anybody else with the same thought ... should be free of any problems.

I always try to find a 'portable' version of any program I try or use. I hate to install anything but sometimes you have to go that route.

Before I decided to go with the older version of CCleaner ... I did have newer versions on my computer, as they were released, but I really saw very little difference in speed between 'old and new' ... so I'm happy with the version I am using.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2017 09:57AM by callahan.

Quote
annie
Not a peep out of my anti-virus and anti-malware programs. Sigh.

For detection an anti-virus needs definitions for the respective malware.
Heuristics are not reliable and prone to false positives.

Quote
smallhagrid
A very long time ago (in computer terms, certainly...) I realized that a full 99% of all 'updates' in the windows realm ONLY serve other's purposes - and not my own.

99%?
I wouldn't exchange my Win7 with Win96.
There are relatively rare cases when I prefer to keep the old version of a software instead of the new one. Even in such cases I'll have to test sometimes the new release to see if upgrading makes sense.
BTW, my upgrade cycle for OS (Windows) -> Win98 - W2K - Win7.