Serious Warnings About The Dangers of Adobe

The spotlight is on Adobe again... I don't know how to break the news to you without sounding paranoid. Although there is that one popular motto which says:"paranoia saves lives". In this case, I would rather we think of it as:"paranoia saves computers". Perhaps I should just give you the facts then let you decide just how dangerous this issue is. That being said let me to tell you about the vulnerabilities discovered in Adobe.

The vulnerabilities were found to affect Flash Player versions v9.0.159.0 and v10.0.22.87, which is geared for certain operating systems. The operating systems include the Mac, Windows as well as the UNIX systems. The main problem with regards to this vulnerability is that it runs the risk of causing your machine to crash, giving malicious online attackers access and enabling them to take control of your system. This will give online attackers everything they need in order to cause complete chaos and steal all your confidential information.

Adobe Acrobat Reader, as we all know is a very popular and widely used PDF file viewer, which provides its users with many different and user friendly features. Some of the files of Adobe Acrobat Reader include the following: Acracns1.dll, AdobePS5.dll, AFORM.JS, AGM.DLL, bidilpt.dll, icon.newshortcut5.pdf, JAPAN.JS as well as TRYOUT5.EXE.

After all this worrying information about Adobe, wouldn't some good news be great? I am happy to announce that Adobe is actually in the process of developing an excellent fix for this vulnerability. Adobe is looking into being able to provide it's user with an update geared for Flash Player versions v9 and v10. The versions for Mac, Windows and Linux should hopefully be released by July 30 this year. The additional good news is that Adobe is hoping to release an update geared for Reader and Acrobat v9.1.2 for Windows, Mac as well as UNIX by the 31st of this month.

In the meantime it may be in your best interest to disable Flash. In order to disable Flash follow these instructions:

• You can Disable Flash in Adobe Reader 9 on Windows by renaming these particular files: "%Program Files%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\authplay.dll" and "%Program Files%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\rt3d.dll".

• You can also disable Flash Player or selectively enable Flash content by following the instructions in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.

Adobe is in the process of correcting their faults and flaws. They are very dedicated to ensure a safer experience for all Adobe users, regardless of which Adobe product you are actually using. In the next couple of months all the Adobe vulnerabilities are going to be effectively dealt with and sorted out by the Adobe team. It is in everyone's best interest to take the advice and suggestions of the Vendor with regard to fixes and updates. I would thus like to quote in conclusion: Software companies should take more responsibility for security holes, especially in browsers and e-mail clients. "There are some straightforward things the industry should be doing right now to fix things, and I don't know why they haven't been done yet."Tim Berners-Lee - World Wide Web Founder