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Adobe Flash Player Available to Download with New Improvements for Windows 10

Flash Player got some new updates from Adobe for Windows 10 and other platforms on 8th of January this year. Unfortunately and surprising enough none of the security vulnerabilities are fixed by this updated even though  Adobe Flash Player for Windows 10 has many enough.

Adobe’s Flash Player improved person for Windows 10 also called KB4480979 introduces general improvements and fixes. Adobe explained in a document that this update’s purpose is to get the performance improved and to squash any Flash Player bugs.

The company also explained that macOS, Windows, Chrome OS, and Linux all received updates that address performance and feature bugs and that no security fixes are included.

According to the support document from Microsoft the new Adobe Flash Player update can be implemented on all supported versions of Windows 10. If your device is running on any of these versions of Windows, then it should automatically install via Windows Update. In case that did not happen, you can do it manually.

Head over to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click on Check for updates button to download and install the new Adobe update. If it was not automatically installed go to Settings > System > Update & security and open the update history page.

At the end of 2020 Adobe plans to stop distributing the software and end the support for its Flash Player. People still use Flash, but it is also considered one of the biggest security risks for your computer.

WebGL,  HTML5, WebAssembly and other open standards have matured in the last years according to Adobe. These technologies offer the same features that Flash does so, with that being said, Adobe Flash Player might soon enough be replaced by them as they provide better security.

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How To Enable Adobe Flash Player In Google Chrome

Adobe Flash Player is living its last days and this is no secret for anybody. Nonetheless, this does not mean that it isn’t still useful. For example, in Google Chrome it is possible to deactivate the default use of Adobe Flash Player. However, if you do this you might discover that there are certain websites which require Flash. So here is how you can enable it once again.

How to enable Flash Player in Google Chrome

Enabling Adobe Flash Player is very simple. All you have to do is head over to a website that you trust. Look at the link box and you should see a little lock icon on the left.

If you click on it you should see a small menu pop up. Look through the list of options and at the bottom of it you should find “Site settings”. A new page should open and you will see a list of options. Find the Flash option and select Allow from the drop-down menu.

Other Flash settings

More advanced Flash settings are also available. You can decide on which websites Flash is allowed to function. This is possible on both Windows and Mac. Here is how you can do it.

Start by opening Google Chrome. In the right corner, on the top of the screen, you should see three points. A new drop-down menu should show up. Select Settings. Once a new page opens, you have to scroll to the bottom of it and click Advanced.

You should see a Privacy and security section. There you can find Content settings, click on it. A new list should show up. Find Flash on it and choose to Ask first. This way, if a website requires Flash, you will choose whether it is allowed or not.

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Adobe Flash Player Safety Problems on Firefox, Edge and Safari

As 2019 will be soon upon us, Adobe Flash is coming closer to its inevitable demise, as the company will pull the plug of the famous web plugin in 2020.

Adobe’s Flash Player has been a pivotal plugin that helped in shaping the web as we know it today. It was used for animations, audio and video clips, and in some cases even entire websites. In the recent years, major security issues have plagued the player, as it was easy to hack, allowing malicious entities to infect users with a variety of malware and becoming well-known security vulnerability.

What put the final nail in the coffin was HTML5. HTML5 offers increased performance, it’s easier to learn and use, and it is a lot safer than Flash. After a mass migration of most websites to HTML5, Flash has started to look like a relic of the old days. While some browser games, legacy sites and ads still use it, those numbers are quite small.

Since Flash will be soon completely abandoned, the security breaches will become even bigger. When accessing Flash content, most browsers will ask for a confirmation that you want to run the plugin before displaying the desired content.

In order to protect your system you may want to disable Flash. You can set your browser to mandatorily ask for permission before displaying Flash content, or even disable it completely. Read below to learn how.

Safari

Permission setup: Go to Safari/Preferences/Security, and click on the Website settings tab. Select Adobe Flash player on the list and set the When visiting other websites option to ask. Click on done and you are good to go.

To disable: Repeat the same steps, but change the option to Block. Click on done and continue browsing.

Firefox

In this case, mandatory permission is on by default, so no change is needed.

Edge

Edge will only allow you to disable the plugin completely. Go to Settings/View Advanced Settings and switch the Use Adobe Flash option to ‘’off’’.

Modern browsers will automatically update Flash Player, so stay away from any suspicious ‘’update’’ notification when visiting a website. They lead to a fake update that installs harmful malware on your system.

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How to Avoid Fake Adobe Flash Player Updates

The well-known Adobe Flash player has been affected by security vulnerabilities since 2017. Criminals can use them in order to infect users. Since the app has lost its popularity in recent years, Adobe has decided to end the support for Flash by 2020.

Beware the bait

Adobe does offer regular updates from time to time as it tries to keep it as safe as possible.  This prompted some malicious entities to come up with a whole new idea: fake or hijacked websites that will prompt you to install malware which looks like the real deal. The scam works in some cases, as users which are not particularly tech savvy will benevolently install the fake program.

Know the difference

In most cases, the user will visit a hacked site without knowing it. The site will flash a message that strongly encourages them to ‘’install the newest flash player update’’ usually in order to see a video or play a flash game. In most cases users will end up installing some form of malware and they will have to spend valuable time in order to remove it.

How to avoid them?

  • Here a few tips that will help you keep your system safe and minimize any risks you can encounter:
  • If a random page asks you to update your flash player, don’t do it. Go to the official Adobe website and download the latest update straight from the source.
  • As an IT manager or business owner, warn your colleagues and/or employees against this scam. Even one affected PC can compromise an otherwise secure network.
  • In order to keep your PC or network secure, you should opt for DNS-based protection services. They will add an additional layer of security, and protect you against several threats.
  • Update you flash player often. A recently released update addresses Spectre and Meltdown, two famous hardware vulnerabilities that render many modern PCs vulnerable to attacks.
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Adobe Flash Player on Windows 7 Downloading Problems

An IT Specialist has made a post on Adobe’s forum explaining his problem with the Flash Player. He said that the Flash Player could be installed without problems on any computers besides the ones running on Windows 7. The program can be downloaded into the device, but an error message pops up every time he tries to install it. It can’t even be updated. In addition to this, the problem has been up for almost three weeks now, and no fixing was provided.

One of the other forum writers suggest that the online installation does not work because of this:

10/02/18 19:27:06:604 | [ERROR] |  | ADM |  | ApplicationContext | ValidationFailure |  | 4592 | Binary signature validation failed.

10/02/18 19:27:06:604 | [ERROR] |  | ADM |  | ApplicationContext | InstallError |  | 4592 | Error while validating installer for package ‘Adobe Flash Player’ at path ‘C:\Users\7\AppData\Local\Adobe\4E7B4803-BD2D-45D3-B2D0-FCB8B58367CC\1F1EB998-6146-4858-8 4F0-197F4BE8E502\28213067-62BC-4DEB-BF7B-178FF9C69A4A’

Some other writers also say that if the Windows 7 is updated completely, it should have the Flash Player on its own.

However, the real solution came from a more experienced user. He said that if you download the installer from get.adobe.com/flashplayer, it will get the Flash Player to be installed in the background without bothering you. However, this is only meant for single-user installations. If you want to distribute this program within an organization, you will need to use MSI and EXE which are full installers. A distribution license will also be required. This is the only solution available to distribute the Flash Player within an organization. If you want to use a distribution license go to Adobe Flash Player Distribution | Adobe and they will provide you with one. Keep in mind that public email addresses such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail are not allowed.

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