A decade-old Windows malware trojan wormed its way into the macOS ecosystem, complete with a signed (likely stolen) Apple developer certificate. The exploit appears as an Adobe Flash Player installer. Once permission is granted, it hides itself deep inside macOS folders. Its certificate has already. The Adobe Flash Player backdoor malware seems trustworthy because it comes with a valid certificate that claims to be Apple-approved. However, upon close inspection, there’s something off about it, such as the fact that it claims to have a random developer instead of Adobe.
The succession of vulnerabilities found in Adobe’s Flash Player shows no signs of dying down: not a month goes by without Adobe releasing another yet emergency update for Flash to patch a bunch of newly discovered vulnerabilities (measuring in the dozens).
Some of them can be pretty nasty as they introduce new attack vectors for spyware, ransomware, trojans and other malicious applications that you don’t want anywhere near your computer.
A few years ago, Flash Player was impossible to avoid because a bulk of web video was encoded in Adobe’s proprietary Flash format, but not anymore: YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and many other popular web services now use HTML5-based video players that work in any modern browser.
While Apple does block older, vulnerable versions of Flash in the Safari browser on macOS, you should do yourself a favor and remove Flash Player from your Mac using step-by-step instructions provided in this tutorial.
How to remove Adobe Flash from your Mac
1) Navigate to the /Applications/Utilities/ folder on your Mac and launch the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager app.
Tip: If you don’t see the app and are positive that Flash Player is in fact installed on your Mac, download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller from Adobe’s website.
2) Click the Uninstall button to begin the process.
3) Type the administrator password for your OS X user account and click OK to continue.
Flash Player is now being uninstalled from this Mac. You cannot cancel the uninstaller at this point. Don’t restart or turn off your computer until the uninstaller finishes.
Follow up on my previous note describing a functional solution to the Flash Player problem. Install adobe flash player for chrome mac. Following the aforementioned procedure the following files were added in ‘MacIntosh HD/Library/Internet/PepperFlashPlayer’.
4) After the uninstaller removes Adobe Flash software from your computer, click Done.
Adobe Flash Virus On Mac
And that’s all there’s to it, folks!
Living in a Flash-free world!Adobe Flash Player Update Mac Malware
Congratulations, your Mac is now Flash-free and your computer is no longer prone to Flash vulnerabilities—even if you try to access Flash content in a browser—as long as you don’t reinstall Flash Player.
Don’t you shed a tear—you’ll be better off without Flash altogether!
Adobe flash player for mac free update. Download free Adobe Flash Player software for your Windows, Mac OS, and Unix-based devices to enjoy stunning audio/video playback, and exciting gameplay.
Verifying that Flash Player uninstallation is complete
After running the uninstaller, your system should be free of Flash Player and its associated web plug-in. To verify that Flash uninstallation has been completed successfully, first restart your Mac by choosing Restart in the Apple menu.
Then, open your browser and check the status of Flash Player on Adobe’s website. If Flash Player is no longer installed on this Mac, the page will produce an error message.
Accessing Flash content without Flash Player
As we mentioned, you can watch virtually any video on the web without needing Flash Player.
In moving away from Flash-encoded video, web developers have embraced HTML5 video en masse. For starters, HTML5-based video works in any modern web browser without needing a dedicated plug-in.
In addition, HTML5 video takes advantage of your computer’s chips to decode content in hardware. Not only does that allow for smooth video playback than in Flash Player, but also does so in a power-efficient manner that helps conserve energy.
With that in mind, if you stumble upon a piece of Flash content on the web that you want to view but hate the idea of re-installing Flash Player, simply use Google Chrome for these purposes. Google’s browser has built-in Flash Player, but it’s sandboxed to prevent Flash vulnerabilities from affecting the rest of your system.
macOS blocks outdated Flash versions
Out-of-date versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates are automatically disabled in Safari by macOS to help keep your Mac secure and help limit exposure to potential zero day exploits from web plug-in enabled content.
If you see the message “Blocked plug-in,” “Flash Security Alert” or “Flash out-of-date” when attempting to view Flash content in Safari, that’s Apple warning you that you’re using an out-of-date version of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in on your computer.
More Mac tips? Browse our tutorials archive.
Need help? Ask iDB!
Not sure how to do something on your Apple device? Let us know at [email protected] and we might solve your specific problem and provide a solution in one of our future tutorials. Adobe flash player update for windows.
Submit your how-to suggestions at [email protected].
Adobe Flash Player For Mac Malware
If you found this how-to helpful, drop us a line below and share your own tips.
Text Size
Mac users beware: an infamous and sophisticated Windows malware has made its way to macOS, and it could infect your machine via a common outlet.
The backdoor malware — known as Snake, Turla, or Uroburos — has been infecting Windows machines since at least 2008. Three years ago, it was ported to Linux systems, and now, it has just been adapted to infect Mac users, according to a MalwareBytes blog post. A highly sophisticated malware, it’s thought to have been created by the Russian government, and according to security firm Fox-IT, it’s been used to attack high-profile targets such as large corporations, as well as military and government institutions.
The Mac version of Snake was first spotted by Fox-IT in a file named Install Adobe Flash Flash Player.app.zip. This indicates that, like many other malware before it, the Mac version of Snake masquerades as a Flash installer. In fact, the fraudulent app actually does install Flash — but it is signed with an illegitimate Apple certificate. This certificate allows it to bypass Gatekeeper, at which point it will ask for your system’s password. From here, the process looks like a normal Flash installation, but will also install malicious software onto your machine. Once it’s on your machine, Snake allows attackers to steal your sensitive data — including unencrypted files, login credentials and passwords.
While many Mac users may still believe that their machines are relatively safe from viruses and trojans, this is becoming increasingly untrue. Backdoors can easily be passed onto unsuspecting users via social engineering — like a convincing email ostensibly from your IT department, for example. And because Snake looks like a standard Adobe launcher once it’s installed, it can easily go undetected by the average user. Luckily, Apple has already revoked the certificate tied to this particular version of Snake, but a new iteration with a different certificate is always a possibility. Similarly, this version can still infect your machine is downloaded from a source that doesn’t quarantine flag it — such as most torrent apps and services.
Adobe Flash Player For Windows 7Ways to Protect Your Mac
Read Next:Apple Watch Dominated Sales of All Wearables Last Quarter
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |