![]() These versions of the software had been modified illegally before it was released to the public. On September 12th, 2017, Piriform revealed in a blog post that CCleaner version and CCleaner Cloud version had been compromised. If you are unsure of some of the options, especially the ones pertaining to the registry settings, it’s best left untouched. Using CCleaner is not necessarily a bad idea, but most of its functionalities are redundant, given they are already built into the Windows operating system. Unless you are an advanced user, using the registry cleaner is not advisable. The windows registry is a database containing settings for virtually everything on your PC, so messing up the registry might have serious consequences. The software does delete temporary files, but deleting some of these files (like the web browser’s cookies and cache files) might actually slow down the computer.Ĭoming to the registry cleaner, this feature is best left unused unless bad registry entries have left your system damaged and programs refuse to launch or install. Unless your hard disk is running full, using CCleaner might not provide a huge boost in performance. ![]() And since every computer comes with much bigger hard disks than they did before anyway, the disk cleanup feature might not prove much useful too. Most of the functionalities CCleaner offers is already built into the Windows operating system, and as such do not require an additional software to accomplish. Since these tools are already built into Windows, most users don’t exploit these functionalities anyway. CCleaner also provides a startup manager, an uninstaller, and a System restore interface. Also, CCleaner cleans up files that have been created by background processes (like cookies and cache) which users do not manually delete. Since anyone with access to these files gains immense information about the user, deleting these files is the easiest way to prevent this. As such, CCleaner can assist in getting rid of cache files and browser cookies which store private data. This is hardly a concern nowadays, given that hard disks come cheaper with greater storage capabilities. The first use case this definition brings to mind is freeing up memory from the hard disk. The latest, hopefully, uncompromised version of CCleaner can be found here (version 5.34).CCleaner is a utility program which helps in getting rid of potentially unwanted files and invalid Windows registry entries from a computer. Users of CCleaner for Windows are advised by Piriform Ltd, Avast’s CCleaner subsidiary, to uninstall their CCleaner version 5.33 apps. You can read up about the malware’s technicalities from the cybersecurity researchers who discovered the threat – Cisco Talos. As a multi-stage malware, the infected software also serves a backdoor for the hackers to conduct other deadlier attacks. The hidden malware payload was designed to send encrypted information from the victim’s computer to the hacker’s servers. The malicious copy of the program was certified and signed merely 15 minutes after the original, uninfected version was available to the public. The researchers notified Avast of the breach on the day it was discovered (13 th September). More users could be infected, as CCleaner sees five million additional users per week, with total downloads north of two billion since November 2016.Ĭybersecurity researchers learned that the first instances of abnormal CCleaner behavior happened with the previous version (5.33), which was made available to the public on 15 th August 2017. The infected software was distributed by CCleaner’s parent company, Avast Antivirus.Īccording to Avast, approximately 2.27 million users are running an infected version of their CCleaner software. CCleaner for Windows hacked – backdoor infects 2.3 million devicesĬyber security researchers recently discovered that legitimate and signed copies of CCleaner for Windows 5.33 and CCleaner Cloud 1.07 had been infected with a multi-stage malware payload.
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