# Researchers shut down Time4Popcorn’s vulnerable updater to curb botnet risk

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/abandoned-popcorn-time-apps-had-to-be-disabled-to-prevent-a-zombie-army/
- Published: 2026-10-23T19:35:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T19:47:45+00:00
- Original publisher: The Verge
- Original article: https://www.theverge.com/tech/1017914/popcorn-time-piracy-botnet-avoided
- Topics: Entertainment, Film, Horror, Music, Software, Technology, TV

## Key points

- An abandoned updater left Popcorn Time users exposed to possible remote attacks.
- Eye Security sent an update to disable it on Windows and macOS.
- More than two million update downloads were sent before the domains were transferred.

## Summary

Researchers disabled an abandoned Popcorn Time fork’s updater after finding it could let attackers take control of devices and build a botnet. The intervention reduced a security risk for users, though it raised ethical questions about researchers sending software updates without direct consent.

The Time4Popcorn updater was still active on Windows, macOS and Android devices, contacting abandoned domains over unencrypted connections and using an outdated version of Chrome. Eye Security registered one of the domains and sent an update that disabled the updater on Windows and macOS; Android users were not covered because installing an update there required their interaction. The researchers said they had sent more than two million update downloads by March, then transferred the domains to the Shadowserver Foundation.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.