The Top 10 applications which are used by criminals to hack computers and steal important data; include Flash and other products by Adobe because they are used on so many devices on a regular basis.
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Adobe will likely fix the latest gaping security holes in the platform, but it seems fewer companies are ready to support something that’s becoming less useful and more insecure every day.
“Some websites use Adobe Flash to display content. However, attackers can also use the security flaws in Flash to run malicious software on your computer and gain access to your system”, cautioned Mozilla.
The ban is temporary – it will stay in place as long as there’s a version of Flash with publicly known security problems, Mozilla said.
Facebook’s security head, Alex Stamos, tweeted that it was time for Flash to be killed off. Adobe patched it pretty quickly yet since that time, two additional flaws have emerged and it’s entirely possible that additional vulnerabilities could surface from the Hacking Team dump.
It’s still possible to manually activate Flash in the settings menu of the latest Firefox version.
If you’re anxious, a detailed guide to how to disable Flash can be found here (please note: this means that some videos and animations won’t play in your browser.).
The good news for Firefox users is that most won’t notice a change. Since then, numerous tech experts have joined the war against Adobe Flash over the years, calling for the plugin’s death.
Flash is software that is referred to as middleware or an add-on extension to whatever browser that allows content to be seen.
Adobe released a patch Tuesday morning.
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Certainly anti-malware and Web Application Firewall (WAF) technologies can also help limit the risk of Flash zero-day exploits, but Mozilla’s move to block Flash altogether for now is likely the best protection for users. It was Steve Jobs back in 2010 who had posted 6 reasons against Flash in a message called “Thoughts of Flash”.
