Cybercriminals often target outdated plug-ins like Flash and Java since they’re easier to infect with malware. Keep hackers out by making sure you’re always running the latest version of those plug-ins, or, even better, don’t use them at all. Many sites now use HTML instead anyway.

July 6, 2008: Bohmini.A is a configurable remote access tool or trojan that exploits security flaws in Adobe Flash 9.0.115 with Internet Explorer 7.0 and Firefox 2.0 under Windows XP SP2. It spread as malvertising from 247mediadirect through an advertising network via the social networking site Facebook.

Plugins used to be essential to many rich web applications, but they’ve gradually been supplanted by technologies included in HTML 5. While some sites still require add-ons like Flash, it’s more efficient and safer to uninstall them, especially considering that Adobe – which makes Flash and Shockwave – has already announced their discontinuation. Doing so […]

Flash is a holdover from a previous era of the web, when most traffic was from PCs. Mobile devices don’t even support it and there are now safer desktop alternatives, such as HTML5, for running certain browser apps. Consider uninstalling it to shield yourself from the many threats that exploit it.