This comes two years after hackers stole trade secrets from high-profile tech firms by rigging version 5.33 of CCleaner with well-hidden malware to secretly collect system information on computers that had installed it. The investigation found that the mysterious culprits were likely targeting Avast's popular CCleaner product, which is installed across the globe. But rather than pull the plug on the VPN connection, Avast decided to leave it open in a bid to track the hackers' activities. 23, evidence shows the hackers may have first breached Avast's network as far back as May 14. The hackers breached the company by stealing the employee login credentials for a VPN client, which gave them access to Avast's internal network, the antivirus provider said (Opens in a new window) on Monday.Īlthough the company first noticed the breach on Sept. Hackers recently infiltrated antivirus provider Avast in an apparent attempt to tamper with the company's CCleaner product. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.

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This is especially the case when that latest version of CCleaner has data collection options enabled by default (see the section below). It's a bit ironic to claim that going into a user's system without their permission and making changes is a move based on privacy and transparency. 'Since the release of v5.46 we have updated some users to this version to meet legal requirements and give users more autonomy and transparency over their privacy settings.' As it turned out, that's exactly what happened.Ī Piriform staff member responded with the following: A user on Piriform's forums noticed that CCleaner had automatically updated on his system without his permission. The latest CCleaner controversy comes from ignoring user preferences about checking for updates. In our opinion, it isn't time to trust CCleaner. This is unfortunately not surprising after Avast purchased CCleaner developer Piriform in July 2017. Why Is CCleaner No Longer Safe?ĬCleaner, once a tidy app with no history of issues, has had several major problems in less than a year. Here's why you can't trust CCleaner anymore, and what to replace it with.

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