All that time, Avast/Piriform continued to distribute the compromised CCleaner It’s a sad state of affairs when a security vendor, who inherently has users’ trust, could allow something like this to happen - let alone take almost 4 weeks to discover it. Plus, it open a pathway for the user’s confidential information to be sent surreptitiously to clandestine web servers belonging to the hacker. That means that for nearly four weeks, Avast continued to distribute an infected, hacked CCleaner which contained a backdoor Trojan that was capable of downloading malware, keyloggers, ransomware and other malware onto the user’s computer - without the user’s knowledge. If CCleaner’s claims on user numbers, millions are likely affected.Īccording the information from Cisco Talos, Avast distributed the compromised, hacked version of CCleaner from Auguntil September 12, 2017. For weeks then, the malware was spreading inside supposedly-legitimate security software. Talos warned in a blog Monday that the affected version was released on August 15, but on September 12 an untainted version 5.34 was released. Comparing it to the NotPetya ransomware outbreak, which spread after a Ukrainian accounting app was infected, the researchers discovered the threat on September 13 after CCleaner 5.33 caused Talos systems to flag malicious activity.įurther investigation found the CCleaner download server was hosting the backdoored app as far back as September 11. It has 2 billion downloads and claims to be getting 5 million extra a week, making the threat particularly severe, researchers at Cisco Talos warned. The affected app, CCleaner, is a maintenance and file clean-up software run by a subsidiary of anti-virus giant Avast. The tainted application allows for download of further malware, be it ransomware or keyloggers, with fears millions are affected. Users of Avast-owned security application CCleaner for Windows have been advised to update their software immediately, after researchers discovered criminal hackers had installed a backdoor in the tool.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |