Apple blocking older version of Flash Player plug-in on Safari

Apple announced today that they've updated the web plug-in-blocking mechanism in Safari on OS X to disable older versions of the Adobe Flash Player. The move is a way to protect users from a recent vulnerability that took advantage of an older version of the Flash Player plug-in.

If you're running one of these older versions, a "Blocked Plug-In" alert may appear on the Safari browser page where the Flash Player is located. Clicking the alert displays the message shown at the top of this post, which enables downloading of an up-to-date version of the plug-in.

More details about the update and how to install a newer version of the plug-in are available on the Apple support pages.

[Source: TUAW]

Google touts improved Flash Player security in Chrome for Mac, says it's safer than ever

Needless to say, Adobe hasn't had the best of times when it comes to the overall reliability of its Flash Player on Apple-made devices -- so much so that Steve Jobs took it upon himself to write some thoughts about it a couple of years ago. Thanks to Google, though, Adobe can proudly say it's famed Flash Player is now more secure than it's ever been -- well, at least on Chrome. According to Google, both companies have been working closely since 2010 to find ways to improve the security aspects of the famed plug-in, noting that some of the most recent enhancements can now be found in the latest Stable release of the browser -- in which a novel plug-in architecture is used, allowing Flash to run "inside a sandbox that's as strong as Chrome's native sandbox." The Flash plug-in improvements within Chrome aren't just for Mac users, however, as Google has said Adobe's Player is now fully sandboxed on Windows, Linux and, of course, its own Chrome OS as well.

[Source: Engadget]

Android Flash Player back in Google Play UK to support BBC iPlayer

After being unceremoniously dropped from the store earlier this month, Adobe's mobile Flash Player has returned to the Google Play store in the UK. According to BBC News, Flash's encore is the result of pressure from the BBC and "strategic partners" that rely on Flash for their Android apps. Perhaps the most notable app is BBC iPlayer, which requires Flash to play content.

The BBC says it's in the process of updating its app to stream video through other means, but until it does, Adobe will continue offering the download for UK customers only. Flash Player supports devices running Android 2.2 - 4.0, so users lucky enough to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be unable to stream iPlayer content until the BBC gets up to speed.

[Source: The Verge]