Please disable Flash on your system

[Lannis]

Sincerest apologies for the outburst above.

You CAN delete your own posts, and it's as if "they never were" unless someone was quick on the draw and quoted it (which they haven't done).

So unless you want both the original post AND the apology to stand, you can make it all go away.   Words are like arrows from the bow etc, except here in cyberworld!!

Lannis

[kirby1923]

Thanks for the info!!!

I got kinda excited to see if someone came out with a better crankcase vent for the big block. I have sorted it pretty well but always good to see other methods.

mike

[Kentktk]

I know you worked really hard on that and I'm sure those were the most grown up words you made all week, but it still must be very embarrassing for you.

Rest assured, I did not work as hard as you worked on that constipation problem this morning........keep pushing you`ll get a reward someday for your efforts.

[oldbike54]

 This REALLY isn't the place to start trouble with old guys , you are beginning to sound like ATE 

  Dusty

[Lannis]

Generally, the guy no one ever sees looks a bit like this, I think ....

[rodekyll]

Rest assured, I did not work as hard as you worked on that constipation problem this morning........keep pushing you`ll get a reward someday for your efforts.

It's tasty little morsels like you that keep me regular.   MMMmmmmm . . .tripe!   

[rocker59]

Geez, Louise guys...   

A helpful thread run amuck.

Isn't there a forum out there for debating Apple vs. PC ?

[rodekyll]

I hesitate to add to this charming discussion, but I'm unclear on something.

I understand that Flash runs on all systems, and that the same Flash code is executing in each. Are we most worried that:

1. Flash will execute Flash code that does nasty things directly, like spying via the camera,

yes

 or

2. Flash will modify other programs on the system to get them to do nasty things. Perhaps the operating system files or browsers.

yes

If the greater danger is in #2, then I would expect the efforts of criminals (call them what they are!) would, as usual, focus on the vastly larger PC population, in the interest of profit.

Though Macs have always been vulnerable in theory, in practice little seems to have happened. If #1 above is the big worry, both Macs and PCs are equally vulnerable in the present case.

Making any sense here? Which is the big worry?

Thanks.

Moto

P.S. Love them Macs, but love them PC users too. The Mac premium is hardly double, for equal-spec hardware!

Flash seems to be potentially capable of either level.  It also stores lists of the content you view/listen to.  So it's leaving an electronic fingerprint of your activities.  Once the nsa gets it wired in they can have computers to report in to the home office on a schedule to keep track of the doings of people they know about, and can have it phone in new 'accounts' when key words or sites are triggered on unknown computers.

It's not one hacker that has this.  It's a group of them and they're distributing it.  Flash has the potential to do many things -- it just depends on how it's compromised and what the individual doing the hack is interested in.

[oldbike54]

Geez, Louise guys...   

A helpful thread run amuck.

Isn't there a forum out there for debating Apple vs. PC ?

 Now there's an idea , just don't call us old Mike 

  Dusty

[rodekyll]

I just got back from a call involving flash player.  Luckily for the owner they were on an operating system that ran an old version of their browser.  The browser did not support the advanced flash capabilities, so it just disabled their user account.  Once I removed flash the system started and ran normally -- antivirus reported no infections.

[StuCorpe]

Question, where do you look to see if there has been anything done by Flash that you are not aware of? I would do some searching if I knew where to look.  This has been an interesting topic. I have 1 computer running Win7 and 1 running Ubuntu, using Firefox on both.

[rodekyll]

One of the problems is that flash operates in real-time and often leaves few if any traces of its activity.  But the best hacks are the undetected ones.  Like the recent federal personnel records and Sony.  Those hacks were in place for months and the hackers strolled through the records with no fear of being caught.  It wasn't until the data was made public that the ITsec of the networks were aware they were inside the system.

That's why one of the hacker's favorite statements is "I never installed antivirus and never had an infection."  Like you'd know.

[Triple Jim]

That's why one of the hacker's favorite statements is "I never installed antivirus and never had an infection."  Like you'd know.

A fair percentage of my customers end up sending me an email with a title like "Hey Jim".  The body has something like "Really Cool" and has a link to some bogus Russian discount site.  I've given up letting them know they have a Trojan running, because when I do, they thank me and I keep getting the Spam.  They seem to think it's their ISP's fault.

[Kentktk]

It's tasty little morsels like you that keep me regular.   MMMmmmmm . . .tripe!   

Glad to help you with your old man issues

[jas67]

Yes, went to YouTube a week ago and kept getting "FlashPlayer has crashed".  Disabled it and everything's fine.

do this:
https://www.youtube.com/html5

That will put a cookie on your computer to tell youtube to use html5 instead of flash whenever possible.

[fotoguzzi]

This REALLY isn't the place to start trouble with old guys , you are beginning to sound like ATE 

  Dusty

but ATE thought he was an expert on every topic.

[oldbike54]

but ATE thought he was an expert on every topic.

 

 Hmm , yes on most things , can't remember if he ever weighed in on computers . Had anymore contact with our little muffin Brad ?

  Dusty

[ITSec]

While I understand people getting wrapped up in their preferences for one OS or approach or another, I'm almost sorry I started this thread - I was just trying to give people a heads-up about one of the faster-growing and nastier attack vectors I have seen in the last few years.

If you are genuinely interested in keeping track of these issues, I recommend following the Internet Storm Center run by SANS. It may make your head hurt, but it provides a good look at what IT security professionals are paying attention to, and how they think it might affect us. Flash is not the end (nor the start) of the story - there's lots more in the bad guys' pipeline. https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/After+Flash+what+will+exploit+kits+focus+on+next/19879/ .

[guzzi4me]

I appreciate your "heads up" about this issue.

Please continue to post about these bad guys. All platforms are
at risk. There is no "best" OS.

Thank you!!

Jeff

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^ Yeah, me, too.

[John A]

Thanks from me too!

[Kentktk]

I appreciate your "heads up" about this issue.

Please continue to post about these bad guys. All platforms are
at risk. There is no "best" OS.

Thank you!!

Jeff

Sure there is, the best of what`s out there is Apple OSX

[fossil]

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-unequivocally-better-than-os-x-on-apples-new-macbook/#!
Read this, but please, Kentktk, prior disable Flash, as there are some Flash - adverts on this page. If you are not able to disable Flash by yourself, please ask someone, who knows something about computers. You, obviously, do not belong to this crowd.

And if you are so rich in knowledge, please explain, how you want to run programs like E-Plan, SolidWorks, Catia, and the like on your "best OS of the world". Without the use of Windows. And tell us, why the makers of these engineering programs always choose Windows ant not IOS as OS? Can it be that engineers (people who can think logically) simply are typical Window users? If that is so what sort of people then use Apple - products? Artists? Lifestyle - addicts?

Nothing wrong with them, but they should not try to tell technicians like me what technical product is better. And yes, I am fed up with this discussion.

Thanks to ITSec for the warning!

[Kentktk]

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-unequivocally-better-than-os-x-on-apples-new-macbook/#!
Read this, but please, Kentktk, prior disable Flash, as there are some Flash - adverts on this page. If you are not able to disable Flash by yourself, please ask someone, who knows something about computers. You, obviously, do not belong to this crowd.

And if you are so rich in knowledge, please explain, how you want to run programs like E-Plan, SolidWorks, Catia, and the like on your "best OS of the world". Without the use of Windows. And tell us, why the makers of these engineering programs always choose Windows ant not IOS as OS? Can it be that engineers (people who can think logically) simply are typical Window users? If that is so what sort of people then use Apple - products? Artists? Lifestyle - addicts?

Nothing wrong with them, but they should not try to tell technicians like me what technical product is better. And yes, I am fed up with this discussion.

Thanks to ITSec for the warning!

Disabling flash is easy. That article is based on 1 persons thoughts and he even says it lacks proper testing, so it's just 1 persons opinion or basically useless. The makers of engineering programs are going to go where the money is and that's Windows because so many fools use it. The thing I don't understand is how people can get screwed out of money by Microsoft by such debacles as Windows 8 and come back for more? I never spend money again at something made by anybody who takes it and provides junk. Apparently Microsoft users like throwing money ( and time figuring out how useless Win 8 was ) down Microsofts Sh-t hole

[cruzziguzzi]

Seems winter toned thread drift (read; persnickety) can occur in the summer as well.

Must be a heat/humidity presentation of S.A.D....
Locked up in homes, garages or basements, praying the A/C holds up and colds up while waiting for the weather to clear or moderate can be just as daunting for the cooped-up as being snowed in all winter like a Russian peasant with hungry wolves just outside the door.

Anyhow, regardless of the operating system:

"Hey... I got's to know..."

Will my computer benefit from a synthetic and where does the hose clamp go?

Todd.

[Kentktk]

Seems winter toned thread drift (read; persnickety) can occur in the summer as well.

Must be a heat/humidity presentation of S.A.D....
Locked up in homes, garages or basements, praying the A/C holds up and colds up while waiting for the weather to clear or moderate can be just as daunting for the cooped-up as being snowed in all winter like a Russian peasant with hungry wolves just outside the door.

Anyhow, regardless of the operating system:

"Hey... I got's to know..."

Will my computer benefit from a synthetic and where does the hose clamp go?

Todd.

and do I need to ad Moly

[fossil]

Kentktk,

if you are not able to use a versatile operating system that is capable of solving every thinkable task please stop assuming that other people are equally incompetent. To a lot of people who have to WORK with computers (not only to PLAY) Windows is an adequate tool. To me it is absolutely uninteresting which Windows - version I have to use from NT4.0 on. I have all computers I use configured in a way that the UI is always the same and exactly what I need. Windows gives me this potentiality. And failures? I don´t experience them.

But, I admit, I know, what I do. Apple - products for me (and other professionals) are only toys.

[Bill Hagan]

[rant]
I currently work in an RF test lab. We use Windows OS tools for WORK day after day. Occasionally we see someone bring in a fruit device. They play on it, surf the web, uses fecesbook, whatever. Then we let them know that they need to reprogram their product for a different RF band or modulation to be tested. They pull out a Windows laptop to do the WORK.
In over 40 years of writing software, designing and testing hardware, I have never seen an Apple product used for WORK.
Don't tell me to use that fruit when I need to do a job.
[/rant]

WHOA!

That's like saying that posting on and reading wildguzzi isn't productive work.   

Bill

[canuguzzi]

The ability of each person to choose what works for them, be it a bike, a computer or whatever is the way things work. If someone has such a personal hangup that they need to attack something because they can't find it within themselves to understand not everyone wants to be like them maybe they should just shut up and go elsewhere.

[Kent in Upstate NY]