Flash, the once foundation of interactive online content, reached the end of the line as Adobe announced it is ending its support for the plugin effective January 1.
When the World Wide Web first appeared in 1994, it only had static content such as text and photos. Everything changed in 1996 with the arrival of Flash. Suddenly, the Internet came to life, bringing sound and action to websites. A completely new world of online opportunities opened, and the information superhighway became an exciting place to visit. More than a decade later, the plugin became less of a necessity and more of a nuisance for many Internet users because of its constant notification popups. Recently, Adobe announced it is ending its support for Flash as of January 1, effectively marking the official death of the plugin, with the company asking users to uninstall the software immediately from their system.
Adobe Officially Ends Flash Support, Recommends Uninstalling Immediately https://t.co/ZKH5xo75te by @frankmcshan pic.twitter.com/Yp1JP6x47C — MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) January 3, 2021
The news, while it came as a shock for some, is not something new. More than three years ago, Adobe already expressed its intention to close the lid on its Flash Player. In December of last year, Adobe reminded everyone that it is ending its support for Flash as of January 1 and requested users who still have it to uninstall immediately the plugin from their machines and devices.
Adobe dropping its support for Flash means many things for lots of users. They will no longer see those annoying windows reminding users to update, as well as prompting them to install McAfee Security Scan Plus. Along with the announcement that Adobe has ended its support for Flash as of January 1 and requesting users to uninstall the plugin immediately, the multimedia and creativity software developer published an end of life page to guide users. "Adobe does not intend to issue Flash Player updates or security patches after the EOL date. Adobe strongly recommends that all users uninstall Flash Player immediately," the developer stated on its EOL page.
Industry observers say that the reason why Adobe is vigorously recommending the uninstallation of Flash is that the plugin has always been a security nightmare for both users and the company. This is perhaps the main reason why Adobe decided to end its support for Flash as of January 1, along with the request for users to uninstall the plugin as soon as possible. In an Infosecurity Magazine op-ed by Adam Palmer, there are 1,122 vulnerability records for Flash Player at the National Vulnerability Database. According to information from the CIA and FBI, these vulnerabilities are among the top 10 routinely exploited weaknesses, with criminals still attempting and tricking people into downloading and installing fake versions of the plugin on their computers.
With technological advances in web browsers, users no longer use or install Flash on computers. Today, less than 1% of Internet users still use the plugin on their computers, which is probably why Adobe found it more logical to end its support for Flash as of January 1 and request users to uninstall the plugin immediately. While it is likely your machine does not have Flash installed, you might want to make sure, so you can go ahead and download the Flash Player uninstaller, close all programs and browsers that use Flash, then run the uninstaller. If you are using macOS, open a Finder window and choose Applications, and then click on Utilities or you can search for the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager. Launch the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager and click on Uninstall and wait for the confirmation.
