Adobe has released an emergency security update for its Flash Player after the discovery of a flaw that hackers could exploit to take control of a user s system.
Though users running Internet Explorer for Windows 7 and Firefox for Windows XP are particularly at risk, Adobe urges all users to upgrade to the 18.0.0.194 build of the commonly used browser plug-in.
Users running Google s Chrome and Internet Explorer should have their Flash Player updated automatically, but users can check their Flash Player version here as well as manually download the latest update here.
Adobe s Flash is often targeted by hackers because of how widely used the plug-in is, and Adobe has often had to issue security fixes for similar issues.
Since Flash is such a widely used plug-in, it stands to reason that it will be one of the most targeted apps for vulnerability, Mark James, a security specialist from ESET, told BBC. If you want to affect as many people as possible, then you need an application that a lot of users use, and Flash is one of them.
Photo: Exterior view of Adobe Systems headquarters in San Jose, Thursday, June 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
