Yet another Adobe rant

Richard

I got a popup message that I needed to update Flash. When I clicked on the installer, I noticed that without offering me any choice in the matter, it was also installing McAfee Security Scan (or something like that). I take computer security seriously but prefer to choose my own solutions, so I was not at all pleased. I ran a scan of startup items and found that, as I rather expected, a new McAfee product was set to launch every time I boot. Unfortunately, the product description was in Chinese. Next step was to uninstall the free gift, which appeared to be successful, but I'm going to be monitoring my system carefully for the next few days to see whether some garbage was left behind.

Flash has a long history as a security weakness, and since the Flash source code may have been compromised by the recent Adobe break-in, it's probably more important than ever to stay current. The update message recommended that I just let it install updates automatically, which I politely declined. Had I known it was going to install another product, I would not have been polite. Perhaps there was some mention of the intent in the popup message--they happen so often that I don't really read them. But there was certainly no choice given by the installer, where Windows users generally get to decline superfluous crap.

Now there's probably nothing at all wrong with the McAfee product, but I'm guessing that it doesn't do anything that my existing security software lacks and that therefore I don't need it. In any event, I am pissed that Adobe is installing stuff without my permission. That's just rude.

:humungus

</rant>

Newsy

With my pop-up I always see the enabled option to install the McAfee Security Scan and ensure the option is not selected.

Richard

Yeah, like I said, I look for that sort of stuff in the installer. I'll be more careful from now on. Can't trust anyone...next thing you know, we'll have to start reading all those ridiculous license agreements.

BTW, is it possible to live without Flash? I know Apple tried to drive a stake through its heart and that there were high hopes for HTML5, but I've kind of lost track of how that's going.

divamum

Agreed. I've been caught by that one and, like you, I always look for sneakies being slipped in under the radar. That one keeps changing how it's labelled so it's easy to miss.

Also, WHY does Flash need to be updated about every 20 minutes? and WHY does it crash so consistently in Firefox? DRIVES ME NUTS (and it's on multiple machines with different OS etc etc, so I know it's flash and not me :-/)

Richard

divamum wrote: »

Also, WHY does Flash need to be updated about every 20 minutes? and WHY does it crash so consistently in Firefox? DRIVES ME NUTS (and it's on multiple machines with different OS etc etc, so I know it's flash and not me :-/)

Flash is likely the most widely used piece of software on the planet. So it is a favorite target for malware writers and Adobe is in a constant arms race with them to patch the holes as they're discovered. One would think that by now Adobe could get it right, but apparently one would be wrong.

I don't have problems with Flash crashing FF. If you're not already using it, try installing the FlashBlock extension. It prevents Flash from running automatically, though that does mean an extra click when you do want to see something. For me, it's worth it--before I started using it I would see Flash gobbling up machine resources for stuff I didn't even know was running. Give it a try. You can always uninstall it if it doesn't help.

Newsy

Flash is a conundrum at times! Like mentioned it crashes in FireFox on my Vista 32bit work laptop but never on my Vista 64bit desktop. I even installed a work around on my Android phone so I could watch Flash videos in the mobile FireFox browser - it never crashes.

mercphoto

Apple has indeed tried to kill Flash, and for very good reasons. It doesn't run on iOS devices, but it still runs under OS-X. And while everyone knows it is a big resource black hole and consistent security risk, it still survives. Such is the irony of the tech world. Technology is responsible for some of the fastest changes to society we've ever seen, and yet within the tech walls is some of the most conservative, change-fearing mentality you will see anywhere. As an industry insider, it both surprises and frustrates me to see.