{
  "id": 17097998,
  "title": "Old 'Popcorn Time' App Left Hundreds of Thousands of Macs at Risk",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/old-popcorn-time-app-left-hundreds-of-thousands-of-macs-at-risk",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-29T17:12:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MacRumors",
    "slug": "macrumors",
    "url": "https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/29/old-popcorn-time-app-macs-at-risk/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Popcorn Time, a once popular movie streaming app, left behind a vulnerable update checker on thousands of Macs, according to security researchers. The app, an unofficial version of Popcorn Time, was distributed under the same name, causing confusion among users. The update checker ran every time a Mac was started, even if the app hadn't been opened in years. Since the project's developers abandoned it, the website addresses used by the checker expired, allowing anyone to claim them and install harmful software on affected machines. Eye Research, a security firm, took control of an abandoned address used by the checker, estimating that between 250,000 and 350,000 Macs were vulnerable. With no developer left to provide a fix, Eye Research disabled the checker on over a million Macs and Windows PCs. Despite this, some addresses remain outside their control. The researchers advise anyone still using the app to uninstall it immediately.",
  "summary": "If you installed Popcorn Time on a Mac years ago, part of the app may still be running, and it may have left your Mac open to attack. Security firm Eye Research has detailed how Time4Popcorn – an unofficial version of the once-popular movie streaming app – left behind a small update checker that scanned for updates every time the Mac started, even for people who hadn't opened the app in years.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}