https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/27/ccleaner-says-hackers-stole-users-personal-data-during-moveit-mass-hack/
The maker of the popular optimization tool said hackers stole personal information of paid customers, including phone numbers.
Man that program has gone down the fucking drain. First bundling in bloatware, now this?
What's a good alternative?
I replaced it with BleachBit after their auto-updater led to a situation where everyone was advised to wipe Windows.
Goddamn it gets worse. As soon as I get home from work I'll give a BleachBit a go. Thanks all!
Ohhh thank you for suggesting these, I had been considering swapping for CCleaner for weeks now but didn't know of a good alternative.
Glary Utilities has been my go to for years. First time I've ever seen anyone else mention it!
What’s a good alternative?
I haven't used any such tool for almost a decade probably and I don't think there's a need to nowadays. Occasionally I run the Windows Disk Cleanup utility to get rid of temp files and Windows Update installation files and that's about it. Cleaning the registry is bullshit anyway that does more harm than good (doesn't speed up anything certainly).
nuke and pave is the only real alternative. I do it every 3-4 months and it really only takes me a couple of hours to be back in business with all my apps and settings.
Yeah ccleaner looks a little sketch. I was told to use it but bleachbit is open source and better.
It used to be decent but that was a decade or more ago. Although the registry cleaning main functionality is typically pointless like every other registry "cleaner" out there.
In fairness to CCleaner, there's lots of other organizations that were victims of MoveIt's breach.
"mass exploitation of a vulnerability in the widely-used file transfer software MOVEit has allowed cybercriminals to steal data from a dizzying array of businesses and governments..." - Wired Article on the MoveIt breaches
Trusting MoveIt was regrettable, but lots of folks made the same mistake.
I can understand the use of the moveit platform. I can't understand why it took 7 months to tell anyone.
The maker of the popular optimization app CCleaner has confirmed hackers stole a trove of personal information about its paid customers following a data breach in May.
In May?? And they say so now?
Never heard of ccleaner before, but it seems like some kind of data breach happens every other week. Nobody ever does anything about it besides issue a generic corporate non-apology that was written by their legal team. I have no doubt that several sketchy companies know more about my online activities than I’d ever want them to.
it seems like some kind of data breach happens every other week.
Yep.
Nobody ever does anything about it besides issue a generic corporate non-apology that was written by their legal team.
Ironically, the lawyer hours to write the non-apology are pretty expensive, right from the start. Beyond that, IBM thinks the average breach costs the company 4.4 million dollars.
Companies tend to get serious about breach prevention after a breach.
But the same leadership who couldn't retain Cybersecurity experts on staff before the breach doesn't magically become good at hiring Cybersecurity experts after the breach.
So I suspect that most pay too much money for too little talent for their needs, and remain at high risk of another breach.
I have no doubt that several sketchy companies know more about my online activities than I’d ever want them to.
Oh yeah. Very much so.
To end this on a more positive note, the biggest single improvement a person can make right now, in my somewhat random, but informed, opinion, is to switch to the Firefox browser.
I could probably be convinced that installing uBlock origin or installing a PiHole are stronger, in a friendly argument over a round of drinks.
Of course, all three of those are compatible, for the truly paranoid.
Is anyone still using CCleaner? I gave up on it years ago when it turned into bloated junk.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The maker of the popular optimization app CCleaner has confirmed hackers stole a trove of personal information about its paid customers following a data breach in May.
In an email sent to customers, Gen Digital, the multinational software company that owns CCleaner, Avast, NortonLifeLock and Avira brands, said that the hackers exploited a vulnerability in the widely used MOVEit file transfer tool, which is used by thousands of organizations, including CCleaner, to move large sets of sensitive data over the internet.
(tldr: 6 sentences skipped)
The mass-hacking of MOVEit file transfer tools began in May, and quickly became the biggest hack of the year (so far) by the number of victims alone.
(tldr: 1 sentences skipped)
Researchers tracking the mass-hacks say more than 2,500 organizations have confirmed MOVEit-related data breaches since May, amounting to at least 66 million individuals — though, the true number of affected people is likely far higher.
Clop has not yet listed CCleaner on its dark web leak site, which ransomware gangs use to extort companies by publishing stolen files if the hackers’ ransom is not paid.
(tldr: 1 sentences skipped)
A spokesperson for Gen Digital said at the time that the incident was limited to the personal information of its employees and contractors, and that “no customer or partner data has been exposed.”
(tldr: 2 sentences skipped)
The original article contains 398 words, the summary contains 222 words. Saved 44%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
They fucking bought avira too? What a shame. I remember back 12 years ago avast, avira, and ccleaner used to be good, then they all sold out to this shitty company
Why is this even called optimization tool? Wouldn't Russian Roulette game fo PC be a better fit?