Here We Go Again: Update Adobe Flash Now Due To Threat That’s In The Wild

In case you’re not aware, there’s two pieces of software that are horribly insecure. The first is Java which I have removed from my Macs a long time ago and I have relegated to being only inside my virtual PCs where an attack via Java can do no real harm. The second is Adobe Flash which I wish I could get rid of entirely because of it’s now epic lack of being secure. However that isn’t possible at this time due to the number of websites that require it for any number of reasons. This was reinforced this weekend by Adobe releasing an updated version of Flash and urging users to update ASAP.  Here are the key facts:

  • The attack in question is a drive-by-download that leverages this Flash vulnerablity. Meaning that you hit a website and it downloads code to your system to do evil things to it.
  • This vulnerability in Flash is being actively exploited as I type this.
  • Flash versions up to and including 16.0.0.287 on OS X and Windows and 11.2.202.438 on Linux are susceptible to the attack.
  • Adobe is also working with Google to update the embedded version of Flash included in the Chrome browser.
  • Standalone installers should be available this week.

Instructions for enabling automatic updates or manually updating Flash can be found here. I strongly suggest that you do so at your earliest opportunity.

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