How to Protect Against Adobe Reader Exploit

Robbie Ferguson: I wanted to touch on Carrie, there was on announcement on Friday about this exploit in Adobe Reader. Carrie Webb: Yes, okay. Robbie Ferguson: Mostly for Windows users but it has also been Adobe sensitive effects old platforms. People are saying though that it doesn’t affect Linux. It doesn’t affect Mac, necessarily no. I think it’s a little more towards Mac and Windows but definitely Windows users specially have to be concerned about this problem. Carrie Webb: Okay. Robbie Ferguson: Basically, what it does is it allows somebody to send you a pdf file that will basically give them your personal information. They use Java Scripts and I think why do you really need Java Script in a pdf anyways? Why does this program? What does this application even support Java Script? If you know, please let me know. It doesn’t make any sense to me. So regardless, there is an update for that program for Adobe Reader where they especially document the new version, version 8.1.2. Adobe Reader 8.0 through that version. So basically 8 and up Adobe Reader 7.09 and earlier, Adobe Acrobat, Professional, I'm just reading this up for you just in case you have this installed at the same versions again, 8.0 from 8.1.2 and Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D and standard 7.0.9 and earlier and that’s a three in standard of the other one too. So if you have Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer you definitely want to get this patch. It’s available from Adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb08-15.html. So it only took them two days to get this patch out which pretty is impressive and a lot of antivirus software companies are actually starting to release Hotfixes as well to protect you from that exploit. You definitely want to patch your application, disable Java Script if you need to but this should resolved that when you're going to Adobe. Carrie Webb: Well, I have those applications so well, definitely I would be doing that and if this exploit happened to you, what would that looked like, what if would you get like if your pdf just come up— Robbie Ferguson: Apparently, Acrobat will crash. Carrie Webb: It will crash. Robbie Ferguson: It just crashed? Carrie Webb: It crashed. Robbie Ferguson: Weird. Carrie Webb: It really did. I turned it down and I reloaded it. Robbie Ferguson: Really? Carrie Webb: Yeah, on Firefox. Robbie Ferguson: So it’s possible like we definitely want to do patch for you anyways. I'm going to post a link to this file. This is the Adobe security update on their advisory for this week and that was really just yesterday. I'm going to post a link to that in the show notes for episode number 75. Carrie Webb: So should I go change my pins and my address and everything like— Robbie Ferguson: I don’t know. They haven’t really said what information it exploits. Carrie Webb: Oh, okay. Robbie Ferguson: It uses a backdoor Trojan. I mean we could read over this stuff but I'm really sure when it actually distributes but I wouldn’t get too paranoid just now. I think at this point it’s so early. It’s like they found the problem. Probably not a lot of people are going to be affected by it yet in order to avoid having it spread. Now it has been announced certainly all the hackers are going, “I'm going to exploit that” and they going to start to setting out this pdf so let’s get our computer specs before those pdf starts getting distributed. Carrie Webb: Okay. Robbie Ferguson: That’s why we want to watch it for. Carrie Webb: So I'm going to patch it. Robbie Ferguson: Definitely. Carrie Webb: Okay. Robbie Ferguson: You want some? Carrie Webb: Wow, thank you. Robbie Ferguson: No problem.