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Adobe Acrobat and Reader will get a 'silent update'
NEXT TUESDAY will see Adobe fix flaws in its Reader and Acrobat applications for the first time with an updater that can run in the background to patch the software.
Users will be able to configure Reader on Windows machines so that they can automatically download any available updates without confirmation. By default, the updater will ask users if they want to update first.
All users who have Adobe Reader 9.3.2 and Acrobat 8.2.2 for Windows and Mac on April 13 will have the updater activated.
Previously it was often the case that users of the PDF-reading software left it unpatched, which was an security hole that hackers could potentially take advantage of. Many attacks have recently targeted Adobe Reader browser plugins.
It has taken a fair while for Adobe to give users this option, but now it seems to be following the usually successful Microsoft approach, with quarterly patch updates and patching that doesn't require much user input.
Adobe has been keen to stress that it will not activate the automatic option by default without prior consent, as it wants to honour the user's choice.
However Adobe's Steve Gottwals wrote on the Adobe Reader blog, “That said, the security of our users is a key priority for Adobe. The majority of attacks we are seeing are exploiting software installations that are not up-to-date with the latest security fixes. We therefore believe that the automatic update option is the best choice for most end-users.”
Adobe is considering presenting users with an opt-in screen for automatic updates in the next phase of the rollout. µ
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How is this a good thing?
I mean external update software that runs in the background is always a fail. I hate the f*ing standalone, do nothing most of the time, programs that just eats resources because once or twice in a month they download update.
The way it *should be implemented* is that if Adobe Reader is *running* it starts the updater automatically, and closes the damn updater after update. If I close the Adobe Reader I expect it not run any god damn update background processes *all the time*.
It is good enough that it automatically looks for the updates as I run the reader.
"The majority of attacks we are seeing are exploiting software installations that are not up-to-date with the latest security fixes."
ORLY? Have they considered that's, maybe, because their install-base is largely not up-to-date?
@Vinster: "If they would give USERS a option in flash to play or not I could stop hating Adobe, but till then I will spit on the company every chance I get."
Now that would hurt advertising, if you had to opt-in for every banner, because that's what Flash is for, right?
1) Ads
3) Streaming Porn
4) Websites for people/companies who think they're too important/cool for standard HTML+CSS
this was shown on my screen at the end of the update.
Nice one! Adobe.
not 100% reletive-
If they would give USERS a option in flash to play or not I could stop hating Adobe, but till then I will spit on the company every chance I get.
Adobe=spam masters.
The recent /action vulnerability in the PDF spec is actually worse in Foxit Reader. Foxit just executes the file, but Adobe Acrobat warns asks for confirmation.
"NEXT TUESDAY will see Adobe fix flaws in its Reader and Acrobat applications for the first time with an updater that can run in the background to patch the software."
The current updater has run in the background for ages now and can be configured in similar fashion, except for the _Windows only_ "Automatically install updates." option. It's the same updater for all Adobe CS products.
Poorly written article. Why was this even reported?
Conderned? Get one of these: http://en.onsoftware.com/top-5-alternative-pdf-readers/