Flash Just Patched a Huge Security Flaw, Go Update it Right Now
Adobe just patched up a gaping security flaw that could affect anyone who logs on to eBay, Tumblr, Instagram, or other popular sites. If you’re a person who visits any of those domains (or really, any website out there that might use Flash), you really should update your stuff right now.
Basically, the flaw—which security blogger Michele Spagnuolo says has been well known in the infosec community—made it possible for hackers to steal the cookies that authenticate returning users on sites like eBay, Twitter, Tumblr, and thousands more. Spagnuolo says that so far, no tools have been made public to exploit the fluke. Since there was no proof of concept that the exploit could work, “this led websites owners and even big players in the industry to postpone any mitigation until a credible proof of concept was provided,” Spagnuolo says.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Adobe just patched up a gaping security flaw that could affect anyone who logs on to eBay, Tumblr, Instagram, or other popular sites. If you’re a person who visits any of those domains (or really, any website out there that might use Flash), you really should update your stuff right now.
