Latest Adobe Flash Updater has a surprise

[Skuzzy]

If you allow Adobe to update your flash player in your browser, they WILL install McAfee!  Adobe has removed the option to opt out of the installation.

The only way around it is to use the full Flash installer.

For Internet Exploder, use this
For all other browsers, use this

The reason I am bringing this up is there is a virus, active on the Internet, exploiting a security hole in the current Flash player.

[SilverZ06]

Thanks Skuzzy!

[Bizman]

Just a minute ago I installed Flash Player for both IE7 and Firefox 27 on a freshly factory reset computer (that's why it was still IE7). IE was the first to go and I went directly to the Finnish locale site. It offered the option to install Chrome, which I unticked. In the meantime I downloaded Firefox without transferring settings from IE. This time I thought I'd check if the localization would make any difference, went to adobe.com instead of .fi and chose to stay on the US site despite the question of my locale. This time the installation offered McAfee, but again the option was able to uncheck. For security reasons I checked the Programs and Features, no McAfee there.

Hopefully your find was only a temporary glitch on the Adobe site, Skuzzy. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Would be kind of odd if they would push McAfee installs on computers that potentially already have antiviruses. That could lead into serious conflicts.

[Bizman]

An update: One of our computers just did the automatic Flash update at startup. No extras as far as I could find.

[HornetUK]

Does this apply in the UK I do my system maintance every weekend with filehippo and saw no sign of this?

[BluBerry]

If you allow Adobe to update your flash player in your browser, they WILL install McAfee!  Adobe has removed the option to opt out of the installation.

The only way around it is to use the full Flash installer.

For Internet Exploder, use this
For all other browsers, use this

The reason I am bringing this up is there is a virus, active on the Internet, exploiting a security hole in the current Flash player.

Thanks for the heads up man, appreciated.

[Max]

Skuzzy will this work for all future Adobe installations as well? Lord knows they update at least once a month.

if so, how about a sticky?

[Denniss]

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

Links for all supported OS, also links to the ESR Flash version without feature experiments.

[Skuzzy]

Maybe they are only pushing this in U.S. installations, but the Internet is alive and screaming about this problem.  I know I almost got burned by it.  I saw the McAfee installation progress indicator and terminated it as fast as I could.

No warning, no check boxes to avoid it.

[Denniss]

So the best option would be to got to the flash player control panel and set update method to "notify only", if notified you now know where to get the clean update from.

[eagl]

That's weird skuzzy.  I've updated 4 computers with the latest adobe flash in the last 2 weeks and not one of them forced the mcafee antivirus installation.  I wonder what's going on.  Maybe if it detects no active antivirus it forces it?  I have Microsoft security essentials on all of the computers, so if you're not using that then maybe that's the difference?

[Skuzzy]

That's weird skuzzy.  I've updated 4 computers with the latest adobe flash in the last 2 weeks and not one of them forced the mcafee antivirus installation.  I wonder what's going on.  Maybe if it detects no active antivirus it forces it?  I have Microsoft security essentials on all of the computers, so if you're not using that then maybe that's the difference?

That could be possible.  Maybe Adobe pulled that update after the backlash.  The net was buzzing with complaints about it.

[McShark]

If you allow Adobe to update your flash player in your browser, they WILL install McAfee!  Adobe has removed the option to opt out of the installation.

The only way around it is to use the full Flash installer.

For Internet Exploder, use this
For all other browsers, use this

The reason I am bringing this up is there is a virus, active on the Internet, exploiting a security hole in the current Flash player.

Use Modzilla on my game rig .... AND NO FLASH at all !

[VonMessa]

Tanks, Skuzzy