Thanks, Brian.

I understand this product is necessary for YouTube. I have the 8.0.24 version and with my Opera browser YouTube does not display videos. Do I need to update for this to work as well?

Bartolo, No idea what YouTube's requirements are: my guess is it will run w/ any recent version of Flash. However, you are running 8.0.24, which is outdated. You should upgrade, as the Flash upgrade will update your Opera browser, if you have it set as the default browser on your machine.

What about Safari on OS X?

Adobe has a long and unfortunate history of attempting to hide security fixes. This gives us the worst of both worlds. Binary diffs across the updates point attackers right at exploits, while we busy sysadmins don't know we've a security update to apply. Ouch.

Also, past discussion, including the PR blats about automatic updates from Adobe spokespeople, misses the boat. Users increasingly aren't going to have admin privs to install updates, and the Adobe software won't be installed suid. Sysadmins thus need to be notified about which updates are security fixes so they can build and push the MSI via WSUS or group policy on Windows, push the install on Macs using remote desktop or ssh, etc.

Finally, what's the idea with including security updates in unrelated (and major) feature upgrades? Security updates must instead to be specific to security issues. They need to be small and efficient to apply without the extra headache of the feature misses that come with entirely new versions of a package.

I hope Adobe will get their act together on 1) disclosing security updates and 2) providing security fixes that don't also blang us with major feature changes. Moreover, I hope they do so soon, before we have to throw in the towel and ban their products as demonstrably unsecurable and therefore too dangerous to use.

I vaguely recall a very early version of Flash having an auto-update feature... or maybe it was the Shockwave plug-in. Either way...

I don't know if I would trust the updater at all. For the 4th time i have tried to upgrade to the newest version and it still only says I have version 8. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions that will work to correct the problem?

Well I'm not sure what happened but it finally updated to the newest version.

How does the update work for the non-default browser? Firefox updated fine, but not IE, Opera, or Netscape. (Yes we use them all to check things at work).

Thanks!

Jon, Just open up each browser and visit the install link. Then check your version to see if it updated by clicking on the version link above. If you updated but it doesn't say so, try closing out all browser windows and restarting the browser.

Be aware that if you try to install this update on IE, it will prompt you to also install the Yahoo! toolbar. You can uncheck that before installing, as the Yahoo thing isn't necessary for this update.

brian,
thanks for covering our backs.

i went to the link in your blog/column and it says Flash Version 9 is a 'beta' for Macs.

i usually avoid betas. is it worth taking the chance here?

tom rusch

I recently installed WinSP2, and see that it has a Permanently Block Flash Update Downloads function. I have tried downloading it about a dozen times, with no results. On the rare occassion that a gold security bar appears, authorizing the download has no effect. Thanks SP2, for making me _less_ secure.

I take back my previous outburst , because I finally got the Flash update to download and install.

I find your blog having interesting contents. Hope you will visit my site. http://www.theacne.info

Thanks so much for posting this and giving the link to download the newest version. I actually have been having trouble with my Microsoft Update on this particular update. I was able to successfully install the new Flash Player (finally!). Thank you!

I can't seem to upgrade to v9.0 (without the Yahoo toolbar) having attempted numerous times...even tried with the Yahoo toolbar...guess what?...the toolbar installed but not v9.0!

Thanks Brian, I had a really old V6 of Flash Player on IE. Firefox had a V8. Both are now updated to V9. Thanks again. I don't know where else I would get security information about these 3rd party programs that run "under the covers" and can leave security holes open.
Rich B.

Hello Brian...Don't waste your time trying to give yourself a headache on trying to find where did the contents of my articles in my word document came from. They did not come from [WireTap] or buggy bugs in hotel rooms or whatever you're thinking about it. What are they and who are they? They are real "Aliens in human disguised" who visits me and talk to me according to their own time and space. Do you believe in what I'm saying is true? You have to experience it yourself to find out the facts and amazing discovery that they came from the [Dark Matter] of the Universe. They split themselves into multiple identities and marked their chosen at the back of their heads. Their problem is how to see me in person to see that mark.

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