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Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
#21601 04/16/12 09:00 PM
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BACKGROUND: I have a MacPro running OSX 10.6.8 with Safari 5.1.5. I now have Acrobat Pro 9.5.1. When I tried to update from Acrobat Pro 9.5.0, I received an error message that said my application could not be updated because it had been "altered" or some word to that effect. It told me to reinstall Acrobat Pro. I dutifully inserted the CS4 Design Premium Installation Disk One and began the chore. It paused and instructed me to turn off several security items because the installation couldn't go forward until I did. I did as I was instructed and the installation was successful including the updating of all 18 Acrobat Pro 9 updates (doesn't Adobe use Combo updates to relieve the consumer of such an arduous task?) But I digress...

The problem is that, since I did that installation and updating, I tried to remember the security items I was instructed to turn off and I turned all that I could remember back on. Presumably, most of them are in Safari Preferences, but possibly not all of them. It appears that I missed one or more because, when I now run MacScan, I get as high as twelve tracking cookies detected that need removal where I was getting virtually zero before. I run MacScan daily and sometimes more often. Since the Acrobat update, I haven't ventured to unfamiliar web sites. I've gone to my regular sites, but I must have forgotten to close a hole somewhere. The QUESTION: Can someone list all the security items (or a reasonable guess) that Acrobat needs to have turned off before installing and updating it? I'm stumped and I hate getting tracking cookies that I had previously prevented. I tried to duplicate the problem by beginning the reinstall process, but the items didn't show up by the time I discontinued the reinstall. I didn't want to go so far that I had to do the 18 update installation again.

Last edited by JoBoy; 04/16/12 09:23 PM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21602 04/16/12 09:31 PM
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One thing that comes to mind immediately is Safari's Ghostery Extension.

Edit: I'd love to know what you were running to block tracking cookies.

Last edited by artie505; 04/16/12 09:34 PM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21603 04/16/12 10:13 PM
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I ran into exactly the same issue trying to install an update to Acrobat 10. Contact with Adobe indicated it was a problem caused by a previous update and there were references to the problem in their forums. Adobes recommended solution was to reinstall Acrobat from the original CD or DMG and then run the update. Worked like a champ!


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
joemikeb #21607 04/17/12 01:43 AM
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That part worked for me, too. The update worked and Acrobat Pro 9.5.1 is doing its thing flawlessly.

However, I've had a marked jump in tracking cookies that began immediately after updating Acrobat Pro 9. I was doing just fine until then. I use MacScan to detect and delete tracking cookies and other malware. The change in the number of tracking cookies was dramatic. Since sending my first post, I've learned through a lot of digging that the problem has a lot to do with Safari. I have 5.1.5. Other folks have suggested that Firefox does a better job with tracking cookies. I may try that.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21608 04/17/12 01:44 AM
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So would I <grin>. That's my problem.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21624 04/17/12 09:04 PM
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Quote:
Edit: I'd love to know what you were running to block tracking cookies.


I've spent considerable time googling this issue and it appears that it goes beyond the problem I encountered. Safari has been accused of not really getting rid of some tracking cookies that users thought were deleted. Not knowing the validity of these comments, I decided to do a quick and dirty test where I first ran MacScan to clear the existing tracking cookies. Then, I opened Safari 5.1.5 and went to a few news web sites where I have acquired tracking cookies in the past. I opened a few stories and clicked to continue where the stories were longer than one page. I then Quit Safari and opened MacScan. I ran it and it detected five tracking cookies in my system. They were removed.

I then opened Firefox 11.0 and repeated the same routine that I used with Safari. Upon quitting Firefox, I opened MacScan and it detected zero tracking cookies. I should mention that I used Firefox preferences settings that were as close to Safari's as possible.

Surprised, I repeated the above experiment and obtained the same results.

It appears that, if I have a serious aversion to tracking cookies, I should change to Firefox. Fortunately, Firefox has the capacity to import favorites from Safari.

I'm now thinking it over. Hopefully, this will be helpful to someone.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21626 04/17/12 10:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: JoBoy
I then opened Firefox 11.0 and repeated the same routine that I used with Safari. Upon quitting Firefox, I opened MacScan and it detected zero tracking cookies. I should mention that I used Firefox preferences settings that were as close to Safari's as possible.

Surprised, I repeated the above experiment and obtained the same results.

It appears that, if I have a serious aversion to tracking cookies, I should change to Firefox. Fortunately, Firefox has the capacity to import favorites from Safari.

That's what I've been saying for months. And Firefox has quite a few other goodies as well.

Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21628 04/18/12 05:38 AM
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Here's another experiment for you (and grelber) to run:

Launch Safari, visit the same sites that left you with the tracking cookies...maybe a few others for good measure, and then take a look in Safari > Privacy > Cookies and other website data > Details and see how many items are listed that both bear the names of apparent tracking sites and are identified as cache, not cookies.

Now check to see how many of your items were placed by sites identified by Ghostery as "bugs." (At the moment, I've got guilty parties that were placed by advertising.com, bluekai.com, doubleclick.net, interclick.com, invitemedia.com, and media6degrees.com.)

And now visit the same sites in Firefox and see whether you can satisfy yourself that no such items exist in its cache.

Hmmm...


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21630 04/18/12 08:33 AM
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Here's some more food for thought...

I just d/l'ed MacScan (Safari 5.1.5 with latest nightly Webkit build):

1. This screeshot shows that Cookie found seven tracking cookies at the exact same time that MacScan found none.

2. MacScan found sixteen more cookies to scan than did Cookie, and I've got zero idea where they are, although I guess I can get some sort of indication from the fact that an earlier scan located an msn tracking cookie associated with /Users/artie/Library/Preferences/com.apple.internetconnect.plist??? (Edit: I'd very much appreciate somebody's explaining the mechanics of that; I opened the plist in TextWrangler and didn't see anything that looked unusual.)

3. Tangentially related: I found one feature in MacScan that I believe to be spurious, namely that Web Files > Clean Temporary Cache Files forced me to quit Safari before it would clear cache files that, to the best of my knowledge (after considerable research into the subject), Safari clears automatically when it's quit.

> Safari has been accused of not really getting rid of some tracking cookies that users thought were deleted.

That's the thread I've been promising to start...soon come...I think promise.

Last edited by artie505; 04/18/12 09:42 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21634 04/18/12 05:04 PM
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You've taken the discussion to a level I'm not competent to discuss. I'd be very interested in what you find, but I can't contribute anything more than I already have.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21637 04/18/12 07:03 PM
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MacScan has a "trouble ticket" service where they answer questions. I've found them to be very helpful. You might want to request their take on the issues you've raised.
See http://macscan.securemac.com/support/index.php?pg=request


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21638 04/18/12 07:08 PM
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It's a difficult issue to discuss, regardless of level of competence, because of Safari's anomalous manner of handling cookies, and apparent major differences in what the various cookie management apps identify as tracking cookies, but I wanted to point out that grelber's infatuation with Firefox may not be totally warranted.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21639 04/18/12 07:28 PM
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Thanks for the link, but I'll decline; I've already spent far more hours researching Safari's cookie, cache, and history management and how Cookie both interacts and fails to interact with it than I ever had any intention of doing, and I don't care to get involved in the same exercise with another app.

Under any circumstances though, a major part of the issue is that the various cookie management apps seem to have vastly different ideas about which cookies are tracking cookies.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21641 04/18/12 07:53 PM
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MacScan screens out blacklisted cookies. Their list is updated frequently, but I don't know the source of their info. MacScan is a product sold by Securemac.com. Securemac.com is a Mac security consulting group. I have no connection to them except as a satisfied customer.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21642 04/18/12 08:07 PM
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I've looked into three cookie mangers, all of whose lists are updated frequently, that screen out blacklisted cookies, and no two of them treat the same set of cookies in the same manner.

(And I was a satisfied Cookie customer until I discovered that it was, at least to a degree, a pig in a poke.)


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
artie505 #21643 04/18/12 08:55 PM
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OK. You and I are coming to the same conclusion. If we're going to use the Internet, someone will take advantage of us. I'm something of a privacy freak, not that I have anything to hide. I just don't like the idea of others snooping in my stuff for whatever reason.

I've been using Firefox for the past few days and find it to be really nice to use except in one respect. When I play You Tube music videos, Firefox sometimes has to pause to receive more bits. That almost never happens to me with Safari.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Security issue after Acrobat Pro update
JoBoy #21651 04/19/12 04:30 PM
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Originally Posted By: JoBoy
I'm something of a privacy freak, not that I have anything to hide. I just don't like the idea of others snooping in my stuff for whatever reason.

I second that thought.


ryck

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