Everyone knows that Adobe Flash Player constitutes a continuous security risk for our teams. The company continually tries to remedy this by releasing updates that patch the bugs and errors detected, however, this situation is continuous, which is why HTML is clearly winning the battle.
Now, once again, Adobe has released a security update for Flash Player that puts an end, or so we hope, to some critical security problems that had been previously detected, and that could put computer users at risk Apple Mac.
The new patch for Adobe Flash Player for Mac
Needless to say, if you have Flash Player installed on your Mac computer, you should run as soon as possible to update immediately in order to avoid possible and undesirable risks.
What versions of Flash Player are affected?
All the Flash Player versions affected Both on Mac computers that already operate with macOS Sierra and on those computers that still do so under OS X are: Flash Player version 23.0.0.162 and earlier, Flash Player Extended Support Release version 18.0.0.375 and earlier, and Flash Player for Google Chrome version 23.0.0.162 and earlier.
Mac users must update to the latest version of Flash Player through Flash's own built-in update systems, but they can also visiting the Adobe Flash Download Center.
Mac users using Flash Player 11.3.x or higher and who have selected the option to allow Adobe to install updates or to be notified of their availability, will receive the new update (or notification, as the case may be) automatically. Likewise, Google Chrome users will see how it is automatically updated to the new version of Adobe Flash Player.
Minimum requirements
For Mac users, the new version of Flash Player is 23.0.0.185. This update presents the following minimum requirements for it to be installed:
- 1.83GHz Intel Core ™ Duo processor or better.
- OS X 10.9 or later operating system.
- Have the latest version of Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera installed (not all, only the one you use on your computer).
- At least 512MB of RAM and 128MB of graphics memory.
macOS blocks Flash Player by default
With the arrival of macOS Sierra on Tuesday, September 20, Apple introduced a important novelty regarding the use of Adobe Flash Player. As you know, the company has always been very reluctant to use Flash Player on its computers, to the point that it is completely incompatible with the iOS system for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. We already know the reasons: the continuous vulnerabilities and security problems that affect Flash.
For this reason, The Adobe Flash Player plug-in in Safari with macOS Sierra is disabled by default, and is only enabled when the user expressly allows it.
Also other modern web browsers such as Chrome or Firefox among others, have taken similar measures due to repeated security risks.
The latest Flash Player security holes
Last March, the Adobe company already published similar updates to correct critical security problems that had been detected. In April, the company had to release an "emergency" update to Adobe Flash Player to curb the ransomware attacks that were affecting Flash-based ads on Mac and other platforms.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software or malware that is capable of encrypting the hard drive of a user's computer in a way that renders it useless. At that point a "ransom" payment is required in exchange for freeing the computer and returning control to the user. Often times this practice also includes the display of images and voiceovers with the instructions that the user must follow to pay the ransom. This is the only thing that shows up on the computer when it is "hijacked."
Adobe Flash Player has rated this update as a priority, so all users must install it immediately.
