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Rogers Ignite No Longer Uses Flash…. With Days To Spare

Posted in Commentary with tags , on December 22, 2020 by itnerd

Much earlier this year, as in the second of January, I highlighted the fact that Rogers was still using Flash in its Ignite TV web product. I found this to be weird as Flash was due to die in 2020 due to the fact that Flash was a security risk of epic proportions. Well, it’s taken most of the year, but this thread on DSL Reports indicates that Flash is finally dead when it comes to Ignite TV web. Though I will note that Rogers kind of cut it close as every major browser was going to kill Flash by the end of the year. But at least they, or rather Comcast as that’s who really makes the Rogers Ignite product got it done.

For the record, Flash was replaced with HTML5 which means that the Ignite TV product is now compliant with common web standards and should work with any browser. That is a good thing.

UPDATE: The Rogers Community Forum also has a confirmation. But it is interesting that Rogers themselves hasn’t said anything about this as you would think they would want to say something and put a positive spin on this. That I think says something.

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The Last Ever Flash Update Has Shipped

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 10, 2020 by itnerd

Adobe has released the final scheduled update to its Flash Player plugin, weeks before Flash’s official retirement. Here’s the details from The Verge:

As noted on Adobe’s site, yesterday marked the last update for Flash outside mainland China, which has a separate version of the software. Adobe will stop supporting Flash on December 31st, 2020, and it will block Flash content from running on January 12th, 2021. Adobe offered a brief farewell in its release notes. “We want to take a moment to thank all of our customers and developers who have used and created amazing Flash Player content over the last two decades,” the note says. “We are proud that Flash had a crucial role in evolving web content across animation, interactivity, audio, and video. We are excited to help lead the next era of digital experiences.”

Given how Flash has become such a security nightmare, I am not sorry to see Flash go. Most of the functionality of Flash is now in HTML5. Which means that it is a standard and it is more likely to be secure. That’s good for all. Now let’s hope that any web pages that use Flash disappear as quickly as possible.

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Update Adobe Flash ASAP As Exploits Are In The Wild

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 16, 2017 by itnerd

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but you need to update Adobe Flash ASAP as there are exploits that hackers are actively using them. The really funny part is that the people who came across this was beleaguered anti-virus company Kaspersky.

Yeah. Those guys.

In any case, this exploit is serious as per this:

The warning came after cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab Inc said a group it was tracking, BlackOasis, used the previously unknown weakness on Oct. 10 to plant malicious software on computers before connecting them back to servers in Switzerland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

Kaspersky said the malware, known as FinSpy or FinFisher, is a commercial product typically sold to nation states and law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance.

Kaspersky said its assessment of BlackOasis shows it is targeting Middle Eastern politicians and United Nations officials engaged in the region, opposition bloggers and activists, and regional news correspondents with the latest version of FinSpy.

The company said victims have so far been observed in Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, Iran and elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.

Excellent. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself:

Option 1: Download the latest Adobe Flash. Install it and wait for the next Flash based exploit to appear.

Option 2: Uninstall Adobe Flash as there is no real reason to run it. That will make the next Flash based exploit a non-event.

The choice is yours.

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Sigh… Another Adobe Flash Exploit In The Wild

Posted in Commentary with tags on May 11, 2016 by itnerd

If you’re still running Flash for whatever reason, I’m here to tell you that once again there is a serious threat in the wild that you have to worry about. An Adobe Security Advisory details the threat which allow an attacker to take over your system. And those attackers are already using the exploit in question. Apparently patches will be out sometime around May 12th. Thus if you’re still running Flash, remind yourself to download whatever update Adobe puts out. Or better yet, simply dump Flash and don’t worry about being insecure again.

 

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Another Alert To Update Adobe Flash Due To Remote Access Threat

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on March 15, 2015 by itnerd

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but you should update Adobe Flash now. The bulletin put out by Adobe says this:

Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Flash Player for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.  These updates address vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. Adobe recommends users update their product installations to the latest versions

Lovely. I really think that taking Flash off of my Mac was the best decision that I made. Clearly with these never ending bulletins from Adobe, I think you can conclude that Flash isn’t going to get secure anytime soon. Thus you might want to consider doing the same.

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Bye Bye Flash! Part 5 – The Wrap Up

Posted in Commentary with tags , on March 1, 2015 by itnerd

Well, I’ve come to the end of this experiment of removing Adobe Flash from my system over the last month. As promised, I downloaded a copy of Google Chrome and found that the issues with the Belkin NetCam site that I described in my previous post went away. That’s because Chrome has the Flash player built into the browser and it is sandboxed. Meaning that if some evil doer tries to use a Flash exploit, it stays within the browser. It also means that there’s no need for a separate plug-in. Another plus is that Chrome auto updates itself so you will always have an up to date copy of Flash installed, though it may take a couple of days before it hits your computer.

So, with that out of the way, my conclusions are as follows:

  • For the most part, there’s no practical need to have Adobe Flash on your computer as most web content will work fine without it. Plus your system will perform better.
  • If you need to use Flash for whatever reason, your best bet is to run Google Chrome. At least that way, you’re protected from the evils of those who exploit Flash and Flash will not impact your system performance simply by having the plug-in installed.

The bottom line is that Adobe Flash is staying off my system going forward and I believe I will be better off for it. What are your thoughts on this? Please share your thoughts below.

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Bye Bye Flash! Part 4 – I Finally Found Something That I Need That Won’t Work Without Flash

Posted in Commentary with tags , on February 28, 2015 by itnerd

Up until now, life without Flash was perfect. In part 1, I found that the performance and battery life of my MacBook Pro improved by removing it. Part 2 had me answering questions about porn and surveys and finding that they still worked with a couple of exceptions. And part 3 had me experiencing no issues with not having Flash on my system.

That changed today as I discovered that on the Mac platform, you need Flash if you have a Belkin NetCam. That’s because unlike the PC which offers an alternate plug in so you don’t have to use Flash, the NetCam website doesn’t have anything similar for the Mac. Now is this a deal breaker? As long as I have my phone on me, it’s not as the NetCam app allows me to view video. If I have to rely on a Mac to see what’s going on at home, then I have a problem. I’m going to install Google Chrome as it comes with Flash as part of the browser. Thus I don’t have to reinstall Flash on my system. When I get a chance to do that, I’ll report back and finish up this experiment and let you know what the final verdict is.

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Google Converting Flash Based Ads To HTML5

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on February 25, 2015 by itnerd

Another sign that Adobe Flash is doomed comes in the form of the news that Google is now converting Flash based ads into HTML5 so that they can be seen on any device:

Back in September, Google began offering interactive HTML5 backups when Flash wasn’t supported. The Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tools for the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Campaign Manager created an HTML5 version of Flash ads, showing an actual ad rather than a static image backup.

Now, Google will automatically convert eligible Flash campaigns, both existing and new, to HTML5. All the advertiser has to do is upload their ads through AdWords, AdWords Editor, or many third-party tools that work with Google’s ad platform.

Now it should be noted that at present, not every ad can be converted from Flash to HTML5, but Google is heading in that direction. The end game being that Flash based ads will be a thing of the past.

It’s a safe bet that the late Steve Jobs is very happy about this.

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Bye Bye Flash! – Part 3: I’m Not Missing Flash At All!

Posted in Commentary with tags , on February 16, 2015 by itnerd

So I am mid way through my attempt to live without Adobe Flash. I described how and why I removed it and answered some questions that people had. But the real question is, how am I surviving without Flash?

Just fine thanks.

I’ve been using my MacBook Pro without an issue. My surfing activities haven’t been affected and I haven’t found a pressing need to reinstall it. In short, it’s been really uneventful. I can also confirm that my battery life on my MacBook Pro is 45 minutes longer since removing Flash. I can also confirm that my MacBook Pro uses less CPU power when I surf the Internet. These are all positive developments.

As for security, I can’t prove that I am more secure. But knowing that in the last few weeks that there have been multiple Flash updates for security issues that were actively being exploited, I am pretty sure that I am more secure by not having Flash.

I am really glad that I did this. I will continue with this experiment for another 14 days and barring any surprises, I will leave my computer this way.

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Apple Forcing Mac Users To Update To Latest Flash Version…. Again

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on February 9, 2015 by itnerd

Apple doesn’t like Flash, but they see the need to protect their users from insecure versions of Flash. Case in point, this past weekend the company posted a new support document and Safari blocked users from accessing Flash content if they didn’t have an up to date version of Flash. This is meant to protect them from the issues that I reported last week.

Now this isn’t the first time that Apple has done this as I’ve noted one other instance of this behavior. So I suppose that’s a good thing. But perhaps the better way to protect yourself is to do what I’ve done and dump Flash.

Thoughts?

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