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Adobe Download Manager Installing Software Without Consent

Posted by timothy on from the plus-one-invitation dept.

"Not all is worth cheering about as Adobe turns 20," writes reader adeelarshad82, who excerpts from a story at PC Magazine's Security Watch: "Researcher Aviv Raff has found a problem in ADM (Adobe Download Manager) and the method through which it is delivered from adobe.com. The net effect of the problem is that a user can be tricked into downloading and installing software using ADM without actual consent. Tonight Adobe acknowledged the report and said they were working on the issue with Raff and NOS Microsystems, the company that wrote ADM."

5 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Disable by Itninja · · Score: 5, Informative

    I noticed this a few days ago and had enough. I found the KB article the spells out how to disable and wrote it up here.

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    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
  2. No surprise there.... by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I inherently distrust download managers. You don't need them. Just give me an http, ftp or (in some cases) torrent download and that's all I need. Download managers are not needed, they are additional fluff for nothing. It gets on my nerves they usually get forced down your throat and you need to jump through hoops on fire to get to a normal download.

  3. DLM? No thank you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've always distrusted Adobe simply for pushing the Google Toolbar, or these days McAfee. An easy way to get Reader or Flash without getting stuck with their stupid and unnecessary DLM is to cancel the first download, and then "click here if your download doesn't start". That way you only get the installer you wanted, not all the other crap they're trying to push on you.

  4. A minor nit by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 5, Informative

    Adobe is about 28 this year. It's Photoshop that is 20.

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    -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
  5. Adobe also uses Akamai Download Manager by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's two strikes now for Adobe. As TFA says, Adobe also uses the Akamai Download Manager for downloads from the Adobe Store. This thing installs itself and runs *forever*, not just for the download you paid for in the store.

    It has a P2P mode where client machines (that's *you*, sucker) distribute the downloaded software using your bandwidth in the background. Is there an icon in the taskbar letting you know? Nope, it runs silent and deep (it does show up as Akamai something-or-other in Process Explorer).

    It's like running BitTorrent and donating your bandwidth to Akamai and their friends. Except not on purpose.

    But hey, you probably clicked through a EULA that you didn't read, so it's all on you right?