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Update Flash right now, or just get rid of it: Christmas hack edition

Published Dec 29th, 2015 6:50AM EST
Flash Security Update Christmas

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One of the things Christmas brought us is a new Flash exploit that could let attackers take control of an affected system. That’s not necessarily a surprise, considering that Flash bugs are often discovered. Not to mention that some hackers choose Christmas and the holidays to attack computer users who might be busy with plenty of other things that are more important than guarding the security of their computers.

Adobe has acknowledged the issue in a security announcement, and you should definitely update Flash to the latest version. Or just remove it from your computer.

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After all, even Adobe is distancing itself from Flash, but that doesn’t mean the company won’t continue to update it when such security issues come along.

“Adobe is aware of a report that an exploit for CVE-2015-8651 is being used in limited, targeted attacks,” the company explained, without detailing the attacks. “Adobe recommends users update their product installations to the latest version using the instructions referenced in the security bulletin.”

As The Verge explains, there have been as many as 316 Flash bugs discovered this year alone, which means around six bugs have been found every week.

Flash is indeed dying, but it’s a slow death as more content-related online services are moving away from it, so you can expect plenty of bugs to be discovered in the future, at least as long as the plugin is still in use.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.