CCleaner official download was hacked and infected version containing malware released to public - how to fix

CCleaner by Piriform (recently acquired by Avast) is a famous software that comes with both free and paid versions, made available to Windows, Mac and Android users to do housekeeping in their computer or Android smart mobile device to clean up junk files and junk registry entries, in order to optimize the computer to maintain running smoothly. It claims to have achieved over 2 billion of downloads now. There is also a cloud version available.

If your computer has CCleaner installed, you need to be aware that during the period between mid-August to mid-September 2017, the official download site of CCleaner was hacked, and the official CCleaner installer had been replaced with a version containing malware that will compromise your computer. The "contaminated" CCleaner version had been distributed to all the 3rd party download sites as well!

If you installed or updated your CCleaner with the version containing the malware, then your computer is infected.

This is a kind of supply chain attack, will is considered a very effective way to distribute malicious software into target organizations or general public. The attackers are relying on the trust relationship between the supplying source (such as official release source) and the consumer. This trust relationship is then abused to attack organizations and individuals.


Which versions are affected?

• CCleaner v5.33.6162
• CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191

It is said that the affected versions were for 32-bit Windows PCs, and the CCleaner for Android is probably safe. Newer official released versions of CCleaner (version 5.34 and above) are also safe as there will be no malware included (finger-crossed).


What the malware possibly do?

This malware was detected and reported separately by Cisco's Talos Intelligence Group and also the Morphisec's security team.

According to their analysis, this malware will collect information in your computer, including network connection detail, running processes, installed software, anything running with administrator privileges, etc. It will encrypt the information and send back to the hacker's server using HTTPS posting method.

The hacker's server can make use of backdoor created by the malware to send codes to be executed with administrator privileges at the infected computers.


How to fix?

If your Windows computer is installed with CCleaner, you should uninstall it immediately, regardless of the version. After that, if you still want to continue using CCleaner, you can download and reinstall the uninfected latest version (version 5.34 and above) from its official download site.


Reference sources:

• http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/09/avast-distributes-malware.html
• http://blog.morphisec.com/morphisec-discovers-ccleaner-backdoor
• http://thehackernews.com/2017/09/ccleaner-hacked-malware.html
• https://www.pcworld.com/article/3225407/security/ccleaner-downloads-infected-malware.html
• https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ccleaner-was-hacked-heres-what-to-do-next/

Norton Family - parental control and monitoring software to enforce Internet house rules with kids

Norton Family is one of the bundled components in Norton Security Premium subscription offered by Symantec. There is also a standalone product called Norton Family Premier selling at cheaper subscription price but without other components in Norton Security bundle.

With an active subscription of Norton Family, you can install it in multiple devices (computers, smartphones and tablets) up to the maximum number as stated in the subscription package, for multiple headcount of kids.

With Norton Family, you can communicate with your kids and set individual house rules for them to use the computer and smart mobile devices, including what and where they are allowed and disallowed to access in the Internet.

Norton Family comes with a set of generic house rules for your kids according to their age group, which you can customize and fine tune further.

The house rules are formed by the following categories of supervision:

• the kind of websites that are allowed and disallowed to visit
• the time periods that are allowed to use the device
• the maximum number of hours allowed for each individual day in the week to use the device
• monitoring of keywords typed in search engines
• content filtering for search engines
• monitoring of social network activities
• monitoring of online video streaming
• monitoring of text messaging activities
• monitoring of mobile apps installation and uninstallation
• monitoring of device location

The default web supervision house rules by age is as below:

The default time supervision house rules by age is as below:

Norton Family will email you weekly and monthly reports about your kids' monitored Internet activities. Whenever there is possible violation of house rules, you will be informed too.

Norton Family is able to help you as parent to safeguard your kids from:

• Getting addicted to computer and smart mobile devices by enforcing reasonable daily time limit.
• Accessing to online information that you don't want them to access, such as 18+ contents.
• Phishing, scamming and cyber-bullying by restricting leakage of personal information and monitoring of social network and messaging activities.
• Installing or uninstalling mobile apps without your notice.

It can also track the device's location for you to know its whereabouts.

This software is no doubt loved by parents and hated by kids.

Geert Hofstede 6-Dimensions model of national culture

Professor Geert Hofstede, a well-known Dutch social psychologist, has devoted most of his life in a very comprehensive study of worldwide cultural differences and how the culture will influence the values in the workplace.

He analysed a large database of employee values scores collected by IBM, between 1967 and 1973, covering more than 70 countries, from which he first used the 40 largest only and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions. The study continues covering more and more countries and regions.

Hofstede defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others”.

He and his research fellows Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov have written some books to discuss and explain about his cultural studies, including:

• Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Third Edition (Business Skills and Development)
• Culture′s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations
• Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures (Cross Cultural Psychology)
• Cross-Cultural Analysis: The Science and Art of Comparing the World′s Modern Societies and Their Cultures

Hofstede's research team have developed the 6-dimensions model of national culture, deriving each dimension of a country by comparing many other countries in the world.

The 6 dimensions are:

• Power distance - the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.
• Individualism vs. Collectivism - which people feel independent, as opposed to being interdependent as members of larger wholes.
• Masculinity vs. Feminility - the extent to which the use of force in endorsed socially.
• Uncertainty avoidance - deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.
• Long-time orientation - deals with resistance to change.
• Indulgence - about the good things in life.

Hofstede has put up a website for you to find out the 6 dimensions score of a particular country, with detail explanation of each of the 6 dimensions in the context of that country. In that website, you can even compare the 6 dimensions of a country with up to 2 other countries.

The URL of the said website is:
https://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html

Interestingly, you will find out cultural differences exist among countries that are close with each others, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

In fact, cultural differences also exist among China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which their society are all Chinese majority - supposingly should have a lot of common in culture.

And here is the comparison among India, Bangladesh and Pakistan...