Beware of PDF Download email
This just arrived in my in-box. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. The Link goes to www.adobe-pdf-download.org and the name of the company in item 1. is misspelled.
Subject: Download Adobe PDF Reader For Windows
Dear valued customers,
Adobe PDF is pleased to announce new version for PDF Reader which enable you to view, create, edit and print PDF documents. The PDF format as a global exchange document format is created by Adobe and is the most efficient way to exchange information.
You can simply follow the following instructions to make your PDF Reader/Writer most updated.
1. Visit Abode PDF website.
2. Download new version of Adobe PDF and get your application updated.
Thank you for choosing us, the worldwide leader PDF Reader.
Adobe PDF
Copyright Adobe PDF
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
You might like to read these posts too:
Open Source conference in Wellington – January 2010
Even if you are not a FOSS aficionado, this event might well make a good introduction to the genre and its a rare enough opportunity to make the connections as an Aussie event comes to NZ. linux.conf.au [Read more →]
You might like to read these posts too:
PDF Reader very unsafe – disable or replace urgently
Most of us open and read PDF attachments or downloads (our banks and government departments produce many documents for download this way) despite the fact that the security of the Adobe Acrobat reader has long been suspect. But now the company has confirmed that it is positively unsafe. Ryan Narain at ZDNet has the full story. Adobe confirms PDF zero-day attacks. Disable JavaScript now
Malicious hackers are exploiting a zero-day (unpatched) vulnerability in Adobe’s ever-present PDF Reader/Acrobat software to hijack data from compromised computers.
According to an advisory from Adobe, the critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions. It is being exploited in the wild.
The company has activated its security response process but declined to offer any more details until an investigation is complete.
Unfortunately, the company did not provide any mitigation guidance for customers.
The folks at ShadowServer describe the situation as “very bad.”
We did not discover this vulnerability but have received multiple reports of this issue and have examined multiple different copies of malicious PDFs that exploit this issue. This is legit and is very bad.
Here’s what we know so far:
We can tell you that this exploit is in the wild and is actively being used by attackers and has been in the wild since at least December 11, 2009. However, the number of attacks are limited and most likely targeted in nature. Expect the exploit to become more wide spread in the next few weeks and unfortunately potentially become fully public within the same timeframe. We are fully aware of all the details related to the exploit but do not plan to publish them for a few reasons:
1. There currently is no patch or update available that completely protects against this exploit.
2. There is little to no detection of these malicious PDF files from most of the major Antivirus vendors.
With that said we can tell you that this vulnerability is actually in a JavaScript function within Adobe Acrobat [Reader] itself. Furthermore the vulnerable JavaScript is obfuscated inside a zlib stream making universal detection and intrusion detection signatures much more difficult.In the interim, Adobe PDF Reader/Acrobat users are urged to immediately disable JavaScript [as follows]:
Open Acrobat and Click: Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript and uncheck Enable Acrobat JavaScript
Or, better yet, use an alternative PDF Reader software program.
I use one called Foxit that works perfectly well, it also has a paid version called Foxit Pro that enables me to edit most PDF files except those locked with password protection. Although there's a learning curve, its very handy.
You might like to read these posts too:
Corporate media learns collaboration
Rob Paterson's blog has a fascinating post about a St Louis public TV station apparently getting to grips with the role of old media in the world of new media. KETC’s H1N1 Blog - FluPortal.org
When the mortgage crisis began, KETC experimented with blogging as “a way to get information out to the community” during critical situations, Berenc said. The station’s mortgage-crisis blog (which is still up and running) “proved highly successful,” she told me. It generated lots of audience comments and drove traffic to KETC’s site.
So when swine flu emerged, Berenc said it was a no-brainer to create another blog “as part of an overall strategy to connect people to information on-air, online, and in the community.” To get started, KETC “convened a group of community organizations that have a stake in H1N1,” she explained, to solicit advice on “how to connect people to trusted resources.” The group included people from the city and county health departments, regional school districts, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, and the American Red Cross, St. Louis Area Chapter. Using their input, the station created a Wordpress site and started a group blog. KETC’s web coordinator vets posts written by staff, interns, and the Red Cross.
Although KETC doesn’t have stats yet on the success of the H1N1 blog, Berenc assured me that the station will continue it until H1N1 is no longer an issue. She believes the H1N1 page as a whole is “a prime example of what happens when public media organizations collaborate with trusted partners — the community wins.”
At the EYC conference in Wellington last month we had a couple of questions about how expert or authentic organisations working in specific social areas could be sure that the community is getting good information rather that being hijacked through Twitter or Facebook into donating to either outright scams or well-meaning, but inappropriate or ineffective actions.
This might be the answer. Of course, it will mean that your local media people wake up to their role online, which may take a while yet.
How effective are your local media in
- using online technologies to improve the quality of information they publish and
- using your expoert and informed resources to do that?
Comments open.
You might like to read these posts too:
For those who learn to hate their computer
TED is always worth checking out for great thinkers and presenters on a huge range of topics. This is one for those of use who get tired of being tied to our devices and who, while reading the newspaper or a book or magazine, look for the links and get frustrated at not being able to find them. Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology
At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.
You might like to read these posts too:
