Firefox block Flash plugin over security concerns

After the zero day flaws that were used in the cyber-attack on Hacking team’s website surfaced on the Internet, Adobe has had a tough time dealing with the requests to finally kill off Flash for good. The two flaws were found in the pile of the internal data that belonged to Hacking Team. Adobe said that they were aware that the codes of the flaws were published online. However, Adobe quickly patched the flaws and released an update. But it would seem that they were already too late. On Tuesday the vulnerabilities CVE-2015-5122 and CVE-2015-5123 were patched for Windows, Linux and Mac. By the time the update was released, Mozilla Firefox had already blocked the flash plugin in their browser over security concerns.

Earlier, Steve Jobs had also wanted Adobe to discontinue Flash and replace with other web standards like the HTML 5 which has already been adopted by Apple and Google’s YouTube. Now, it seems that Mozilla and Facebook are on the same path. Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser, Firefox is blocking flash because of the bugs discovered in the software and although Adobe said that it was taking the matter seriously and has promised patches, it is just not good enough for some companies. Yesterday, Facebook’s chief of security tweeted that it is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day. This was a clear indication of the stand that Facebook is taking on this situation.

On its support site, Mozilla said,” All versions of Adobe’s Flash player plugin are currently deactivated by default, until adobe releases an updated version to address known critical security issue. Some web sites use Adobe flash to display contact. However, the attackers can also use the security flaws in Flash to run malicious software in your computer and gain access to your system.” Since Adobe stopped developing Flash for mobile, eventually indicating an end of the software but it appears that the software is being slowly brought to life. After the block, the Firefox will now have an option for users to use flash. If they do agree to use it they will be greeted with warning saying “Flash is known to be vulnerable. Use with caution.” Surveys also show that the Flash has become obsolete as it is being used by only about 11 per cent of the websites on the Internet. Even though Adobe released a patched version, it seems flash is already nearing its end.