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Firefox developer Mozilla has announced that the latest version of the browser will block Flash by default.
The news comes after a seemingly never-ending string of security concerns about the once popular software, the most recent of which involved the exposure of a major vulnerability detailed in 400GB worth of stolen files from spyware company Hacking Team.
And just this week Facebook’s chief security officer called for a date to be set for the permanent termination of Flash.
Old versions of the Flash Player plugin have known vulnerabilities,” Mozilla said. All users are strongly recommended to check for updates on our plugin check page. When Mozilla becomes aware of add-ons, plugins, or other third-party software that seriously compromises Firefox security, stability, or performance and meets certain criteria, the software may be blocked from general use.”
Adobe has for a long time been involved in a circular game of cat and mouse, rushing to keep track of numerous security loopholes as and when they are revealed by both hackers and security groups online.
Firefox support boss Mark Schmidt has said that Flash will be re-enabled in the browser should Adobe release a version of the software that cannot be actively targeted for a known vulnerability.
In the interim, users can still manually enable Flash support should they so choose.
Late Apple boss Steve Jobs famously criticised Adobe’s Flash platform back in 2010, while YouTube dropped Flash in favour of HTML 5 earlier this year.
BIG NEWS!! All versions of Flash are blocked by default in Firefox as of now. https://t.co/4SjVoqKPrR #tech #infosec pic.twitter.com/VRws3L0CBW
— Mark Schmidt 🌐 (@MarkSchmidty) July 14, 2015
To be clear, Flash is only blocked until Adobe releases a version which isn't being actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities.
— Mark Schmidt 🌐 (@MarkSchmidty) July 14, 2015
