Adobe has worked with Apple to sandbox Flash Player under Safari in Mac OS X, restricting the ability of attackers to exploit any vulnerabilities they might find in the browser plug-in.
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“With this week’s release of Safari in OS X Mavericks, Flash Player will now be protected by an OS X App Sandbox,” Peleus Uhley, platform security strategist at Adobe, said Wednesday in a blog post.
A sandbox is a mechanism that enforces certain restrictions on how an application interacts with the underlying operating system.
Sandboxing Flash Player under Safari on Mac OS X increases the level of protection against Web-based attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins to install malware on systems.
The majority of these attacks target Windows computers, but Mac users have had their fair share of problems because of vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins like Flash Player or Java.
When you open a web page on your Mac which uses Flash player to control a video or some other Flash-based interaction and the Flash object does not display on your computer, then the Flash player plug-in might need to be enabled within the Safari web browser.
In April 2012 attackers exploited a Java vulnerability to infect around 670,000 Mac OS X computers with a Trojan program called Flashback.
In February, Adobe released an emergency security update to patch two critical vulnerabilities in Flash Player, one of which was being exploited in attacks against Firefox and Safari users on Mac OS X.
Because of such attacks, Apple started blacklisting outdated versions of Java and Flash Player in Safari through XProtect.
With the new Safari release in Mavericks, “Flash Player’s capabilities to read and write files will be limited to only those locations it needs to function properly,” Uhley explained. “The sandbox also limits Flash Player’s local connections to device resources and inter-process communication (IPC) channels. Finally, the sandbox limits Flash Player’s networking privileges to prevent unnecessary connection capabilities.”
“The result is that customers can still view Flash Player content while benefiting from these added security protections,” Uhley said.
Sandboxing Flash Player under Safari on Mac OS X is the latest step in the company’s plan to secure the plug-in across different platforms and browsers. On Windows, Flash Player already has been sandboxed under Google Chrome since March 2011, under Mozilla Firefox since June 2012 and under Internet Explorer 10 since it was released on Windows 8.
Got a message that says you have to update Flash Player on Mac? Don’t promptly click the update button. If you are not careful, you can accidentally install adware or malware instead of Flash Player. And that’s not what you need, right?
In this article we’ll show you the best way to check for Flash updates and also give you a comprehensive guide to update Adobe Flash Player for Mac safely. Plus, we’ll tell you how to uninstall it from your computer completely.
What is Flash Player?
For years, Adobe Flash Player has been one of the most popular plug-ins used by web browsers to reproduce videos, web ads, and interactive animations. But now its position is rocked by some security concerns and safer alternative solutions.
Google Chrome and Firefox contain the built-in version of Flash running in the sandboxed mode. This method is safer than running Flash as a plugin. What about Safari, it disables Flash Player by default starting from macOS Sierra. The point is that Apple wants you running on HTML5 — the newer and safer way of browsing the web. It supports the same multimedia elements as Flash but without any security issues.
However, the reality is that you still may need the Adobe Flash Player on your Mac. Many websites will not work if you uninstall it completely. Live streams like BT Sport can only be delivered in Flash, so if you are the BT Sport customer, you’ll want to keep the Flash Player. In addition, a great number of gaming and education sites use Flash and until they implement the HTML5 standards, you’ll need the Flash Player.
Why watch out for Flash updates on Mac?
Adobe is always trying to push its technology further and release the Flash updates to enhance the user experience and security. However, attackers still find the ways to trick you into downloading adware and malware through the popups. That’s why you should know how to protect your Mac against the malicious attacks when you’re trying to update your Adobe Flash for Mac.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make sure that you are installing the real Flash for Mac and are not exposed to the vulnerable software. All you have to do is to be careful and don’t trust the automatic updates.
How to update Flash Player on Mac (if it’s already installed)
Instead of downloading anything from a popup, follow simple steps to check whether you really need to update Adobe Flash on Mac.
Go to the Apple menu and click System Preferences.
In the bottom left corner, choose Flash Player.
Choose the Updates tab.
Click the Check Now button.
If an update is available, click Yes to update. If no updates are available, you have the latest version of a Flash Player for Mac installed.
Easy enough, right? Make sure to invest some time and check if you do need to update Flash. Otherwise, downloading a false software package may harm your computer.
How to install Flash on your Mac safely
If Flash is not installed, which is by default on all new Macs, here’s a step-by-step guide to install it safely.
Visit the Adobe Flash Player page.
Click the Download now button.
The installer will download to your computer. If you’re using Safari, the file will go to your Downloads folder. If you’re using another browser, it may ask where to save the file.
Open your Downloads folder and find the .dmg installer file.
Double-click the Install Adobe Flash Player file.
You will be asked if you really want to install Adobe Flash Player. Read the message carefully to make sure that it’s the file you just downloaded. Click Open to proceed.
Agree to terms and conditions by clicking a checkbox.
Click the Install button.
In the window that appears, type your username and password.
Click the Install Helper button.
Click Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended).
Click Done.
That’s it. It’s also recommended to relaunch your web browser after installing Flash.
How to uninstall Flash completely
If you’re concerned about the security flaws associated with your Adobe Flash Player, we’ll show you how to uninstall it from your Mac.
Usually, uninstalling Flash can cause a bit of headache. But with CleanMyMac X, you can remove Adobe Flash Player in a few clicks. Just follow these simple steps:
Flash Player Safari Mac 10.13.6
Download CleanMyMac X and launch it.
Go to the Extensions in the sidebar.
Click Preferences Panes and then checkmark Flash Player.
Click the Remove button.
As you see, uninstalling Flash with CleanMyMac X is as easy as pie. Moreover, the whole process won’t take more than five minutes. Try it out to uninstall Flash Player on Mac completely.
Flash Player For Safari Mac
That’s it! Follow the tips above and don’t let the tricky popups and websites take advantage of you. This way you’ll stay up-to-date safely.