Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday March 26 2017, @08:02PM   Printer-friendly
from the things-people-will-do-for-a-discount dept.

FedEx will pay customers to turn Adobe Flash back on if it notices Chrome or Safari users that have it disabled:

FedEx will give customers that use the Chrome 56 and Safari 10 browsers or newer a $5 discount once they enable the Flash plugin. The offer comes after both Chrome and Safari have started blocking Flash content by default in the past few months.

[...] Despite all of [the] warnings, FedEx has remained one of the largest companies that still supports Flash content on its website. This seems to be causing some issues for their customers, who now need to enable Flash in Chrome and Safari. As you may imagine, chances are that many FedEx customers aren't very happy that they have to follow a list of relatively technical instructions to enable Flash again in their browsers. The more tech savvy ones may even dislike the fact that FedEx is forcing them to use Flash again, and potentially expose them to security risks, just when they thought they could have a Flash-free web experience.

To alleviate this problem, FedEx has come up with a rather interesting idea--it will offer its customers a $5 discount for orders over $30 if the site notices that they don't have Flash enabled. All you have to do to get that $5 discount is--you guessed it--enable Flash in your browser. Easy! In its instructions, the company is asking its customers to switch Flash to the "Always run" option, in order to enable it in their browsers. However, Chrome and Safari users should also be able to allow the Flash plugin to "Run once" on the FedEx website. This should allow them to complete the purchase, while at the same time limiting their exposure to Flash exploits.

How about a class action lawsuit for everyone who keeps Flash running after re-enabling it?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 26 2017, @09:34PM (2 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 26 2017, @09:34PM (#484442) Journal

    Most sane and rational people who comprehend computer security tell you to trash flash. And, FedEx wants to swim against the tide? Really, WTF? "Our crappy web pages are more important than your security!" Yeah, right.

    Time to re-write a song. Instead of take this job and stuff it,

    Take that bill and stuff it,
    I ain't screwin with Flash no more

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Insightful=1, Interesting=1, Total=2
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FakeBeldin on Sunday March 26 2017, @09:47PM (1 child)

    by FakeBeldin (3360) on Sunday March 26 2017, @09:47PM (#484451) Journal

    The main problem I have is not the idiocy of turning it off now.
    The main problem is that this is exactly the sort of thing that will stay turned off, even after FedEx fixes their site.

    So congratulations FedEx: because you were too slow to see the signs coming at you for the past 7 or so years, you're now incentivizing Americans to make their computers insecure - without any plan on how to later switch back.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Monday March 27 2017, @06:49AM

      by anubi (2828) on Monday March 27 2017, @06:49AM (#484538) Journal

      I had business I have patronized for years suddenly start insisting I conform to their business model... which included words like "hold harmless" for whatever I encountered in order to comply with their business demand.

      This almost always resulted in my finding a new supplier.

      Its one of the neat things about the new internet business model. Many larger, more established businesses with a huge customer base are quite willing to encourage their customers to visit an upstart.

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]