Adobe’s Flash blocked by mainstream browser over critical
security bugs actively exploited by hackers, as calls for its decommissioning
rise
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| Mozilla blocks all versions of Adobe Flash in Firefox Adobe Flash |
The moves come following a series of vulnerabilities in
Flash being actively exploited, including those exposed by the Hacking Team
compromise.
Firefox users seeking to view Flash-based content, such as
videos, adverts or more complex web tools for uploading images and other
actions, will need to click again and accept a warning that “Flash is known to
be vulnerable. Use with caution”.
That means users of Firefox cannot use Flash by default and
will not be able to until Adobe patches the security bugs and updates the
plugin. Adobe has struggled to keep up with the number of bugs and
vulnerabilities being exposed within Flash.
At the same time, Facebook’s head of security Alex Stamos,
who is previously credited with significantly improving the security of Yahoo’s
operations, called for Flash to be killed off.
"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." said Stamos.
Stamos said that a date for the decommissioning of Flash
needed to be set in stone so that the industry has time to switch away from the
much maligned plugin.
“Nobody takes the time to rewrite their tools and upgrade to
HTML5 because they expect Flash to live forever. We need a date to drive it,”
said Stamos.
Many alternatives have been made available to replace Flash.
Several high-profile video streaming services, including Sky TV and Netflix
switched to Microsoft’s Silverlight instead of Flash. Even Silverlight,
however, has been rejected by browsers including Google’s Chrome, forcing
others to use HTML5.
The move towards using native HTML5 for the majority of
Flash uses has been welcomed by most, although some services that require
digital rights management to secure licences have resisted the move.
Should Facebook ditch Flash wholesale, which is still used
by some of the games and apps published on the social network by third-party
publishers and a few of its own upload tools, it would send a powerful message.
The majority of the large US technology companies, including
Google and Apple, which famously blocked Flash from existing on its iPhone and
iPad, have moved towards more modern and secure technologies.
Stamos and others are advocating that now is the time to put
Flash out to pasture.
