Ransomware Threat and Adobe Flash Player

[Joe]

Adobe rolls out emergency update to counter ransomware threat

Adobe rolls out emergency update to counter ransomware threat

See article for full details, but it affects (among others) systems running Windows with Flash Player 20.0.0.306 or earlier.

Visit this page and it will tell you which version you are running:

Adobe - Flash Player

 

[beancounter]

Yea, I received a notice this morning when I turned my PC on that a new version was available.

Downloaded it right away.

 

[Joe]

Yea, I received a notice this morning when I turned my PC on that a new version was available.

Downloaded it right away.

Good for you. But Adobe is constantly and routinely"upgrading" the Flash Player. But this time there is a pretty damned serious threat unless you do upgrade. See the video that is part of the CNN story. A high school paid over $10,000.00 after being infected with the ransomware. It had backups from which the system could have been restored, but this would have meant that the school's computer system would have been down for weeks while the restoration was completed. It concluded that paying up was the lesser evil.

BTW, the CNN story links to a statement by Adobe on this issue. This statement differs from the CNN article by saying that version 21.0.0.197 and earlier are vulnerable.

I'm going to update Malwarebytes and run that too.

 

[beancounter]

Good for you. But Adobe is constantly and routinely"upgrading" the Flash Player. But this time there is a pretty damned serious threat unless you do upgrade.

Yea, that's why I have Norton Internet Security and MWB running and updated all the time. Doesn't hurt to seal as many holes as you can.

 

[Joe]

Yea, that's why I have Norton Internet Security and MWB running and updated all the time. Doesn't hurt to seal as many holes as you can.

Do you know what "ransomware" is classified as? In other words, is NIS trying to detect it and block it? Or is it classified as malware but outside the category of "virus," so NIS is not even looking for it? Same question(s) for MWB.

 

[Joe]

I finally got the update notice from Adobe today. It updated me to 21,0,0,213 so I should be safe. I tried to download the latest update from the Adobe site a couple days ago; but what I got was the same version that was already on my computer.
And that version was potentially vulnerable.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

"You have version 21,0,0,213 installed" <---- is that good?? LOL

 

[Joe]

"You have version 21,0,0,213 installed" <---- is that good?? LOL

It is good in the sense that that is later than the last version that was reported to be vulnerable to the ransomware that's been going around. In other words, you should be immune to that particular kind of ransomware.

However, it is bad in the sense that Adobe Flash seems to be vulnerable to this type of malware and it may only be a matter of time before the next "scare" comes around.

The Inquirer has called on Adobe to kill off its Flash player.

The banning of Flash from the two biggest advertising platforms is a major step towards ridding the world of what was once the new messiah of the static internet, but is now the herpes of the hyper-lane.
...
It's not just that there are vulnerabilities, but that they are being exploited. There was a 300 percent rise in attacks on Flash during the first three months of last year.

Google finally bans Flash content from its ad platforms

 

[MadamSarcastra]

It is good in the sense that that is later than the last version that was reported to be vulnerable to the ransomware that's been going around. In other words, you should be immune to that particular kind of ransomware.

However, it is bad in the sense that Adobe Flash seems to be vulnerable to this type of malware and it may only be a matter of time before the next "scare" comes around.

The Inquirer has called on Adobe to kill off its Flash player.



Google finally bans Flash content from its ad platforms

What do I doooo??? What about flash games?! LOL

 

[Second Summer]

I think the Linux version of Adobe Flash is no longer being maintained. There is an open source implementation of Flash (not by Adobe), but not sure how good it is. I think it didn't use to work properly on Flash games (didn't save the hiscores), but that was a couple of years ago. Anyway, Firefox is blocking Flash content by default and won't run it unless I click on it and approve it, so it's not so much of a concern.

 

[Joe]

What do I doooo???

Buy a black dress, so you'll have something to wear to Flash's funeral.

But seriously, you have to decide whether to keep Flash or uninstall it. If you decide to keep it, update it promptly and religiously. I am not sure what web browser you are using, but I've read that Chrome has done some things that make the Flash player better than the Flash players used with other browsers. So you might want to change browsers and switch to Chrome if you are going to keep Flash.

You should learn how to uninstall Flash in advance of deciding to do this. In other words, be prepared in advance.
Then when the next "scare" comes around, you won't have to research this info in a panic. (I am thinking of posting a thread on this topic, since I did not know how to do it but had to research it when the last "ransomware" story came out.
It is not totally obvious how to go about uninstalling it.)

By the way, I am not the most techno-savvy user on this Board. So there are probably other people here who could advise you better than I can.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

I use Firefox. Tried Chrome a long time ago, hated it. Not quite as much as I hate IE, but still.... no es la gooda.

 

[Joe]

Google is Phasing Out Support for Adobe Flash in the Chrome Browser