If you’re using CCleaner 5.62 on Windows, your CCleaner will be automatically updated to the latest v5.63 which was released a few hours back by Piriform, this could be because it contains a security update. The version changelog mentions “this release contains an important security update and some minor bug fixes and UI updates”.
“Users on versions v5.57 through v5.62 have been automatically updated to the new version to take advantage of its enhanced security and improved performance,” Piriform said in the forum.
The company hasn’t revealed specific details about the security update. We can confirm our CCleaner updated to the latest without our involvement.
You shouldn’t forget from CCleaner 5.50 onwards, you’ve given permission to the application to apply important or major updates automatically, you can control the CCleaner updates in the Updates section in Settings.
Expect CCleaner Emergency Updater to trigger and install the update in the background in critical circumstances, Piriform added this feature to their Crap cleaning tool after the security incident happened.
In the past users reported their older versions of CCleaner being updated on their own with Avast installed, Piriform-owned by Avast has transparently posted information about auto-update thing in their forum today. This may avoid some controversy.
“At CCleaner, we are committed to providing users with the most secure and easy-to-use product so that their PC always stay clean, safe and fast” Ben CCleaner added.
Do note, Windows SmartScreen is blocking the latest CCleaner setup file downloaded from the CCleaner website from running, expect that as false positive.