Ditch the malware magnet - Adobe Reader

Discussion in 'other security issues & news' started by Malcontent, Aug 6, 2010.

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  1. Malcontent

    Malcontent Registered Member

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    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/06/sysadmin_malware_magnet/
     
  2. dw426

    dw426 Registered Member

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  3. m00nbl00d

    m00nbl00d Registered Member

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    Ditch Adobe, or learn to mitigate vulnerabilities, or even not allow any to be bypassed, by simply not allowing any code to bypass them.

    I've never had any problems with Adobe Reader since I started using it. Go figure.

    Ditch Windows... same blah-blah.

    Start all using Foxit (like the given example), and you'll see what happens. Use one other, see what happens.
     
  4. vasa1

    vasa1 Registered Member

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    Just imagine Chicken Little using the internet.
     
  5. ParadigmShift

    ParadigmShift Registered Member

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    Ditch this.... Ditch that....

    Avoid this.... Avoid that....

    Update, configure and relax.
     
  6. yoganaut

    yoganaut Registered Member

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    Adobe is too big to me, Foxit is just fine.
     
  7. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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  8. RCGuy

    RCGuy Registered Member

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    I didn't want to ditch Adobe because it was a malware magnet(I really didn't know that), but I was thinking about ditching it because it was so bloated.

    I had some sort of Adobe update installation the other day and my computer wasn't the same for about a half an hour. :doubt:

    Also, Adobe had installed something called Adobe Air, which is about 30.70 MB in size and something that I know that I won't be using anytime soon.

    But anyway, here are some more alternative pdf viewers:

    Top 5 alternatives to Adobe’s PDF reader

    List of PDF software
     
  9. diginsight

    diginsight Security Expert

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    Netherlands
    Issues with Adobe Reader:
    • no tab support
    • unneeded plugins, that can only be disabled by physically moving them to another folder
    • air add-on
    • .com add-on
    • default installer wants to install browser toolbar
    • default installer installs toolbar with crappy buttons/functions, not the default buttons and functions from previous versions that users actually use.
    • default installer extracts msi and copies it to program files folder
    • hard to find msi installer
    • launching embedded files enabled by default
    • javascript enabled by default
    • requires/uses download manager to install/update
    • download manager introduces ActiveX vulnerabilities and has to be updated separately or removed after every update.
    • download manager prompts to install unneeded add-ons
    • no cumulative updates for Professional V7 requiring all updates to be applied as separate patches.
    • on our corporate network reader generated 3 GB daily traffic, because download manager didn't support our proxy.
    • localized updates fixing vulnerabilities are not available immediately

    With these issues, who needs vulnerabilities as an argument to replace it...

    My top 2 of alternative PDF readers supporting tabs and good security records:
    • PDF XChange viewer
    • Foxit

    Runners up:
    • Nitro, ribbon support but still in beta.
    • Nuance for prompting to disable javascript during installation, although it doesn't support tabs and requires registration.
     
  10. wtsinnc

    wtsinnc Registered Member

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    :D :D :D

    Good one !
     
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