Good Evening All
This is Off Topic and I apologise but it shocked me ... again!
Adobe Flash Macromedia Player has recently been updated again
9.0.124. The Flash Player is widely used by most websites to run
content from their sites when you visit. If you don't have it on
your machine you get a warning to Update Your Plugins to use the site
fully or see all content or something like that, with a green jigsaw
icon displayed. The code on the website runs a program on your
computer ... so it has access past your firewall.
By default when you install the Flash Player, it is set so that
websites using it can install code on your machine. Most reputable
websites plant a tracking cookie type of code which monitors what you
use your computer for what websites you visit and for how long you
view which page et al ... reports back to the code owner. By
definition that is spyware but many folks don't mind.
Many websites make money by hosting buttons and the like for
others: Please note that the Default installation of the Flash
Player also allows those others who are hosted by the site visited
But Not Necessarily Hit or Run by you, to plant code on your computer
too! You may nor may not be made aware of what is going on ... usually not.
The Adobe Privacy Codes disavows any responsibility for any code that
Non-Adobe websites plant on your computer.
Adobe gives us a chance to reset the Flash Player so that code is NOT
planted on our machines. I always set mine to Global block None and
No Third parties.
Here's the Horror!
I have just updated the Flash Player and all my chosen settings had
once again been negated: my Flash Player was reset to the Default
wide open situation ... allowing everything including 3rd party code
to be planted on my machine. I would never have known without
visiting the URL below.
I make no comment on the ethics of Adobe's practise.
Please visit and check that the Adobe settings_manager reflects YOUR
chosen settings AFTER YOU UPDATE the Flash Player.
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html
Background
I understand Adobe bought Flash Player from New Jersey Technologies
after the latter went to the wall when people discovered the Flash
Player planted code covertly on our machines in the form of rootkit,
didn't tell us what they were doing and didn't give us a chance to say no!
Ike Dawson
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