March 15, 2006
The Good News and the Bad News
You've probably read it all over the blogs today - Microsoft has discovered a security vulnerability in the Flash Player which seems to affect almost every version. The good news is that Adobe has published a fix already. And it sounds to me like you really shouldn't wait too long to make that update - it might become quite ugly out there in case someone finds out how to make use of this exploit.
I see two possible consequences out of this issue, as soon as this news hits the mass media:
a) Panic - people disable their Flash Plugins alltogether
b) Chance - 99% penetration rate for Flash Player 8 within weeks
Of course I am an ambassador of alternative b - especially as it is the much more logical consequence - ultimately the exploit has already been found and been fixed - it's not some unknown danger lurking in the depths of your system. All you have to do is spend maybe 2 minutes for the update. How about doing it right now - I've prepared a little ExpressInstall swf which should do the magic almost automatically - if it doesn't ask you to update and shows you "Flash Player 8.0.24.0 installed" you are fine. (If you are beta testing the new 8.5 player you'll have to tread a bit more carefully for a while).
Of course this will only update your browser plugin. For the standalone player, the debug player or other version you should consult the Macromedia update page.
Posted at March 15, 2006 10:11 PM | Further reading
You've probably read it all over the blogs today - Microsoft has discovered a security vulnerability in the Flash Player which seems to affect almost every version. The good news is that Adobe has published a fix already. And it sounds to me like you really shouldn't wait too long to make that update - it might become quite ugly out there in case someone finds out how to make use of this exploit.
I see two possible consequences out of this issue, as soon as this news hits the mass media:
a) Panic - people disable their Flash Plugins alltogether
b) Chance - 99% penetration rate for Flash Player 8 within weeks
Of course I am an ambassador of alternative b - especially as it is the much more logical consequence - ultimately the exploit has already been found and been fixed - it's not some unknown danger lurking in the depths of your system. All you have to do is spend maybe 2 minutes for the update. How about doing it right now - I've prepared a little ExpressInstall swf which should do the magic almost automatically - if it doesn't ask you to update and shows you "Flash Player 8.0.24.0 installed" you are fine. (If you are beta testing the new 8.5 player you'll have to tread a bit more carefully for a while).
Of course this will only update your browser plugin. For the standalone player, the debug player or other version you should consult the Macromedia update page.
Posted at March 15, 2006 10:11 PM | Further reading
