A close look at how Oracle installs deceptive software with Java updates
http://www.zdnet.com/a-close-look-at-how-oracle-installs-deceptive-software-with-java-updates-7000010038
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Oracle's Java plugin for browsers is a notoriously insecure product. Over the past 18 months, the company has released 11 updates, six of them containing critical security fixes. With each update, Java actively tries to install unwanted software. Here's what it does, and why it has to stop.
That dialog box is not telling the truth.
In the background, the Ask toolbar installer continues to run, but it delays execution for 10 minutes. If you are a sophisticated Windows user and you missed the initial checkbox, your natural instinct at this point would be to open Control Panel and check Programs and Features. When you do, you will see that only the Java update has been installed. You might also check your browser settings to confirm that no changes have been made to your settings. You might conclude that you dodged a bullet and that the unwanted software wasn’t installed.
But you would be wrong. The Ask installer is still running, and after waiting 10 minutes, it drops two programs on the target system.
The only indication that this installer is running is a brief flash of the mouse pointer. A check of the Windows event logs shows that the installer completed its activity exactly 10 minutes after the Java installer finished, and the two Ask modules show up in the list of installed programs.
http://www.zdnet.com/a-close-look-at-how-oracle-installs-deceptive-software-with-java-updates-7000010038
