In this tutorial I'll show you how to trash Adobe Flash. With recent news that, not one but two, zero-day vulnerabilities, Flash is no longer saviour of the universe.
Adobe Flash has long been a frustration, for computer users, with its seemingly almost daily requirement to install patches and updates. It is important, of course, to ensure that the software on a computer is fully patched and up-to-date otherwise it might be at risk from malware and/or viruses.
Flash is now putting computer users at risk, it is time to consider whether Flash is any longer a necessity.
A Brief History of Flash
In Internet terms, Flash originated in the Middle Ages when Macromedia launched Flash 1.0, in 1996, following its acquisition of FutureSplash. Flash comprised an editor and a player.
At the time, Flash Player—with its small footprint well-suited to the 56kbps world of dial-up internet—was a way to bring cross-platform multimedia content to the web.
Development of Flash, by Macromedia, led to the introduction of the ActionScript programming language in 2000 which allowed developers to introduce Rich Internet Applications, or RIAs, to incorporate animation and produce games and interactive websites.
In 2005 an Internet start-up, called YouTube, used Flash to deliver video content. YouTube went on to be quite popular.
Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia, in 2005, and rebranded Macromedia Flash as Adobe Flash. In 2008, Adobe rebranded Flash Player as Adobe AIR, or Adobe Integrated Runtime, to bring content to cross-platform desktops as applications.
Criticism of Flash
Famously, Apple's Steve Jobs was a vocal critic of Flash. The original iPhone, launched in 2007, did not support Flash. iOS devices, to this day, have not natively supported Adobe's product.
In April 2010, Jobs publicly cited his reasons against Flash—in the face of heavy public and tech media criticism—for preventing its use on iOS:
It's proprietary software
The H.264 format for delivering video is superior
Reliability issues
Security issues
Performance issues
Impact on battery life
Touch not supported
Jobs concluded that Flash was created in the PC era. Jobs was already focussed on a post-PC era.
Jobs was not the first. In 2008, founder of Mozilla Europe, Tristan Nitot, said,
"You're producing content [in Flash] for your users and there's someone [Adobe] in the middle deciding whether users should see your content."
From late-2010, Apple stopped shipping Flash in new versions of OS X, although Mac users were free to install Flash if they so required or desired.
With the introduction of OS X Mavericks, Apple introduced browser technology, called Safari Power Saver, that paused Flash content in webpages in order to conserve battery life.
The Current Problem With Flash
Aside from the reasons given by Jobs in April 2010, Flash is a security risk.
Hackers are discovering vulnerabilities with increasing regularity and the scope exists for these to be exploited before Adobe can patch them as is the case with one of the latest vulnerabilities.
1. How to Disable Flash in Web Browsers
Disabling Flash in modern web-browsers is relatively straightforward, ...if you know where to look.
Google Chrome
Flash ships with Google's Chrome web browser and is directly integrated and enabled by default. Updates for Flash are included in Chrome updates and the browser upgrades itself automatically.
These instructions work across Mac OS X, Linux, Chrome OS and Windows operating systems:
Type chrome:plugins into the address bar to open the plugins page
On the Plugins page that appears, find the Flash listing
To disable Adobe Flash Player completely, click the Disable link
To re-enable Adobe Flash Player, click the Enable link
Apple Safari
Whilst OS X has not shipped with Flash, by default, for some time, it is always possible that it has been installed it for some long forgotten reason.
To uninstall Flash in Safari:
Open Safari
Go to Safari > Preferences
Click Security
Click Website Settings
Click Allow Plugins
Select Adobe Flash Player from left hand pane
Click Block
Mozilla Firefox
To uninstall Flash in Mozilla Firefox:
Open Firefox
Open the browser menu and click Add-ons
Select the Plugins tab
Select Shockwave Flash and click Disable
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Once the most popular browser on the planet, technology has moved on, though Internet Explorer remains the browser of choice for a minority.
Depending on which version of Internet Explorer is being used, and whether it is on Windows 7 or not, determines the procedure for disabling Flash.
In this instance, it makes sense to refer to Microsoft's instructions for Managing Add-Ons in Internet Explorer.
Microsoft Project Spartan in Windows 10
If you live at the bleeding-edge of technology, chances are that you're currently evaluating Microsoft Windows 10. Given that you live at the bleeding-edge of tech, you really should do away with Flash.
In Windows 10:
Open Project Spartan
Click the three dots ... in the top right hand corner
Click Settings
Scroll down almost to the very bottom
Under Add-ons there is a toggle switch to enable or disable Adobe Flash Player
Toggle switch to Off
2. How to Uninstall Flash From OS X
Perhaps disabling Flash in the browser is not enough to ensure you sleep comfortably at night. If this is the case, look at uninstalling the software altogether. It's relatively straightforward.
1. Establish the Mac OS X Version
Click on the Apple symbol on the top-left of the menu bar that runs along the top of the screen. Then select About This Mac.
This opens a window with further information about the computer along with the version of OS X in operation. Make a note of the version of OS X.
For the following versions of OS X:
OS X 10.1 Puma
OS X 10.2 Jaguar
OS X 10.3 Panther
Download the Adobe Flash Uninstaller for OS X 10.1-10.3 versions.
For the following versions of OS X:
OS X 10.4 Tiger
OS X 10.5 Leopard
Download the Adobe Flash Uninstaller for OS X 10.4-10.5 versions.
For the following versions of OS X:
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
OS X 10.7 Lion
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
OS X 10.9 Mavericks
OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Download the Adobe Flash Uninstaller for OS X 10.6-10.10 versions.
2. Run the Uninstaller
Download the appropriate Adobe Flash uninstaller for the version of OS X installed on the Mac.
Quit web browsers, mount the Flash uninstaller and double-click the icon. If you have not quit any web browsers, you'll be warned.
Enter the administrator password to proceed with the uninstallation of Flash.
Further information regarding the uninstallation of Flash, on different versions of OS X, can be read on Adobe's help page.
3. Verify That the Uninstallation is Complete
Restart the Mac, open a web browser and check the status of Flash Player.
3. How to Uninstall Flash From Linux
Flash Installed From Adobe
Click Applications > System Tools or Accessories to open a Terminal window
In the command line type cd .mozilla/plugins and press Enter
In the command line type rm libflashplayer.so flashplayer.xpt and press Enter to delete the Flash Player plugin files
Ubuntu-Based Distros
Click Applications > System Tools or Accessories to open a Terminal window
In the command line type sudo dpkg --remove flashplugin-installer and press Enter
Enter the administrator password, and press Enter, to authenticate the command
Debian-Based Distros
Click Applications > System Tools or Accessories to open a Terminal window
In the command line type su -c 'dpkg --remove flashplugin-installer' and press Enter
Enter the administrator password, and press Enter, to authenticate the command
Fedora and Other Red Hat-Based Distros
Click Applications > System Tools or Accessories to open a Terminal window
In the command line type su and press Enter to change to the root user
Enter the administrator password, and press Enter, to authenticate the command
In the command line type rpm -e flash-plugin then press Enter to remove the Flash Player plugin. Press y and Enter if prompted
4. How to Uninstall Flash From Windows
Depending upon the combination of Windows operating system and version of the Internet Explorer web browser, the process for removing Flash Player differs.
If you need to remove Flash Player from Internet Explorer on Windows, refer to Adobe's Flash uninstall guide for Windows.
5. Check that Flash is Uninstalled
Once uninstalling software, it's often best to reboot the computer. This is especially true of Windows-based systems.
On rebooting, you can readily check whether Adobe Flash is installed by visiting https://www.whatismybrowser.com/is-flash-installed in a web browser.
6. Flash and YouTube
Flash is no longer required for YouTube. Since January 2015, YouTube delivers video via HTML5 in supported browsers. If the browser does not use HTML5 video by default, you can request that it does so.
For more information on HTML5 Video Player, on YouTube,
Conclusion
Flash has been a staple of the web for some 19 years. Technology has moved on; things have changed. For many, Flash has had its day. Given its popularity, it is a popular target for hackers and an increasing number of vulnerabilities are being discovered.
With new technologies, such as HTML5 Video Player, making Flash redundant, it's time to question whether there is still a place for Flash on your computer.