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Firefox catches 50% with insecure Flash, only 30% click through to update
Two weeks ago Mozilla prepared a new landing page for Firefox updaters to check for outdated versions of the Adobe Flash Player plugin. When the page went live last week for some six million Firefox 3.5.3 and 3.0.14 users, Mozilla compiled some interesting -- and disconcerting -- statistics.
Just over 50% of users shown the page were found to be running an insecure Flash Player version. That's an alarming number, especially considering the number of times Flash vulnerabilities have been exploited in the past two years alone.
The bad news doesn't stop there. As it turns out, the warning only convinced about 30% of viewers to click through and immediately update the plugin.
When you consider the amount of time most people spend browsing and massive number of threats lurking on the Internet maintaining a secure, updated browser is imperative. That, of course, means keeping plugins like Flash and Java up to date and there's no time like the present to do it.
Hopefully Mozilla's next push will meet with more success.
Comments
7
Subscribe to commentsKoolioSep 18th 2009 1:26PM
After upgraded to 3.5.3, I noticed flash movie play really smooth compare to previous versions.
glaciaSep 18th 2009 2:08PM
Flash is a web nuisance. It's the little barking dog of the internet.
I'm stunned that anyone lets flash run on their browser without restraint. I also hate websites that use flash needlessly. Seriously your website doesn't need a cheesy (and they're all cheesy) flash only front page. Install something like flashblock and then you decide when flash plays.
WrongWaySep 18th 2009 2:30PM
I updated, and got a boat load of OTHER software....
Gardiner WestboundSep 18th 2009 3:03PM
I could see it was going to download some other suspicious things so I killed it before it could start. Just in case, I loaded my previous FF backup.
kingabraham3Sep 18th 2009 4:47PM
looks like adobe got things backwards. it bloated up Reader with its ridiculous update app, but lets Flash stay plain and simple. It would be the easiest thing to include an update checker. Firefox could (should) do that also. The same way it updates add-ons, why doesn't it update plugins?
DeanoSep 20th 2009 3:03AM
It might have helped if there was a big Update button. Keep it simple and obvious rather than making it just a link.
RobertSep 20th 2009 10:20AM
It would help if Adobe had an update system that was simple and efficient. They don't, so it is useless to allow Flash to update through a link. Instead, I usually download the updater and run it separately.
But I was in a trusting mood when I saw the warning, and clicked on the link. Sure enough, Adobe installed an addon ("Adobe Download Manager") which would occasionally try to load a window and attempt to download something. It was never successful at actually updating Flash. It was very successful at being a pain in the behind. I killed the addon, went to the Adobe site and downloaded the updater, like I should have done in the first place.
Simple and efficient Adobe. Having to install addons is neither. You shouldn't be surprised or disappointed when people refuse to do it.