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AlertMac · Security2 min read

Old Popcorn Time app may have left up to 350,000 Macs open to attack

A leftover update checker from an unofficial Popcorn Time app may still run on your Mac, and researchers say it could have let attackers install harmful software.

By the Dashline deskSource: MacRumors
Old Popcorn Time app may have left up to 350,000 Macs open to attack
Photo: KK IN HK, CC BY-SA 4.0
Act this week
What happenedResearchers found that an unofficial Popcorn Time version called Time4Popcorn left behind an update checker that trusted whatever it downloaded and had full control of the Mac.
Who is affectedMac users, roughly 250,000 to 350,000, who installed Time4Popcorn, which was distributed under the Popcorn Time name, plus some Windows PC users.
What to do
  1. 1Look for Popcorn Time in your Applications folder and in your Mac's startup items.
  2. 2Uninstall it if you find it, since you may not know which version you have.
  3. 3Do not rely on the researchers' fix, because other flaws remain and some addresses are still outside their control.
  4. 4Keep your Mac's software up to date and remove other old apps you no longer use.

If you installed Popcorn Time on a Mac years ago, part of it may still be running. Security firm Eye Research says an unofficial version called Time4Popcorn left behind a small update checker. Researchers estimate 250,000 to 350,000 Macs were affected.

What happened

The checker ran every time the Mac started, even if the app had not been opened in years. It trusted whatever it downloaded and gave it full permission to change anything on the Mac.

The developers abandoned the project, and the website addresses the checker contacted were expiring. Anyone who took over one of those addresses could have used it to install harmful software. Eye Research says it found no evidence that criminals did this.

What researchers did

Eye Research took control of an abandoned address and used the checker itself to switch it off on more than a million Macs and Windows PCs. It then handed the addresses to the Shadowserver Foundation, a nonprofit cybersecurity group.

What to do

The fix is not complete. Other flaws remain, and some addresses are still outside the researchers' control. Their advice is to uninstall it. Time4Popcorn was sold under the Popcorn Time name, so you may not know which version you have. The alert box above lists the steps.

What is not known

The report does not say how many Macs still run the checker today. Macs that never had Popcorn Time are not the focus of this report.

The takeaway

If Popcorn Time was ever on your Mac, uninstall it, because you cannot tell whether your copy is the risky one.

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