Adobe Flash Player-Plug-in Security Update

In a release dated December 3, 2007, but I did not become aware of until today, December 19, 2007, Adobe Systems posted an updated version of the Shockwave Flash ActiveX object for Internet Explorer, and the Flash Player plug-in for Firefox and Opera browsers. The new version is currently listed as 9.0.115.0.

Since this is a security upgrade, to block exploits already in the wild, you should update your Flash player or plug-in, both to maintain your PC's security and for compatibility with Flash videos on YouTube and other websites.

One way to update is simply to visit the Flash download page and download it to your computer, then perform an in-place upgrade. Thankfully, this new installer also uninstalls all old versions of Flash, which previous installers did not do. After downloading the Flash setup file, close all of your browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera), run the installer until it completes, then open your browser(s).

The second method to update Flash uses this path (assuming that Windows is installed on the C drive and resides inside the "Windows" directory):

C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files\Shockwave Flash Object. The version number may be displayed on the right, or not, depending on your "view" settings. If not, right-click on that file and select "Update." If nothing happens you probably already have the current version, but, to be sure, right-click on the file and select Properties. The version number will be available from the Properties box. If your version is out of date, accept the download warnings and allow the signed Flash Installer to download and install the new version. Afterward, hit F5 to refresh to folder view and you should see the newer version number, for the flash file (or right-click and view it's "Properties" to see the version).

Failure to update to the current version of Flash player/plug-in may limit your ability to view Flash videos and leave you at risk of exploitation, should you try to view a malware infected Flash presentation.

You can also obtain information about any insecure versions of Flash or other common applications, by running the Secunia Software Inspector, from your browser. See my blog entry from earlier today, for more details about this tool.

Trend Micro Internet Security products,

for home and office users, use in-the-cloud malware definitions that are updated every day, all day, as soon as new or altered strains of viruses and other malware are detected in the wild and analyzed. By offloading the bulk of these ever changing virus definitions to cloud servers, the load on your computers is greatly reduced. All users of Trend security programs are instantly protected from hostile web pages laden with malware exploits and hostile email, by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network.