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Of course I know about 0day exploits, the odds of you getting hit by one of those is very low. What kind of websites do you hang around in order to get hit by a 0day exploit? I don't really want to know, insecure websites maybe or else some black market websites that are suspicious in the first place. What are the odds you visit a large compromised website with a 0day exploit before either the website is fixed or your program has been updated?
Those odds are actually pretty large.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/major-online-ad-site-hacked-serving-up-exploit-cocktail/4885http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/businessweek-site-hacked-serving-drive-by-exploits/1902And those are just two massive-scale examples, that I found in 5 minutes of Googling.
Also I'm aware of the fact it's not the plugin that is exploited, but it is the main source of where people get exploited by it, because they click on a link to a malicious PDF file without even thinking about it, or even noticing that the link is to a PDF file. Also you can remove the plugin just fine after installing it. Also you're assuming that I use Adobe PDF Reader, when in fact you are incorrect, I use Foxit PDF Reader and have been for several years.
You mentioned Adobe PDF Reader in your own post. And do you honestly think that removing the PDF reader plugin is easy enough for the majority of people to do it? How many people do you think are even aware of the capability to remove it?
Please spare me your conspiracy theories about Microsoft, they aren't giving you spyware like you said.
It's not a 'conspiracy theory'. There have been multiple articles that detailed Windows updates that were sending back more information than they reasonably should (
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/28/windows_update_keeps_tabs/ ,
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2010/10/22/important-windows-update-microsoft-privacy-bing-bar/). I have in fact seen two updates in the update list myself in the past few years, that explicitly mentioned the information they would be sending back... which was way more information than was reasonable for a system update (these were not even security patches, but 'enhancements'). Not to mention the WGA tool and the dubious privacy consequences it has (
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/09/ms_wga_phones_home/ ,
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9001540/Microsoft_faces_class_action_suit_over_WGA_tool?nlid=38&source=NLT_SEC). And yes, the WGA tool was automatically installed through Windows Update.
Oh and in future when talking to me, please don't use such disgraceful language, I'm treating you with respect, I expect the same in return, even if you disagree with me. We're all adults here, so start acting like one by having a mature conversation rather than blatently attacking me verbally. If you do not start doing that, I will not respond to you again.
And what disgraceful language would that be?