Farewell Adobe Flash Player

The Adobe Flash Player entered its End of Life phase on December 31, 2020, when Adobe officially ended its support of the interactive media player that was once very popular. Flash holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first web platforms I used to develop web content as an intern in the late ‘90s. While proud at the time, and a little ashamed now, I admit to animating objects and having it blink obnoxiously while playing mp3 audio simultaneously – and I liked it.

Nostalgia aside, it’s important to note that the retired software now poses a significant digital security risk and needs to be removed from all systems, including technical product documentation. By removing the program, users prevent network vulnerability and exploitation and help ensure network security compliance.

The well-documented Flash security issues led Microsoft®, Google® and Apple® to phase out mainstream support. Given the platform is no longer OEM supported, there are no longer security hot fixes or patches to help eliminate current or yet to be discovered security vulnerabilities. This means that hosting Flash content creates a security weakness that could cause harm to infrastructures and organizations.

The best course of action? Remove Flash altogether. Update the content from Flash to HTML5 and host it in a secure, easy-to-navigate and modern platform. Fortunately, ONEIL can help make that happen. Our product support team is well-trained in navigating issues like this, and our team is well versed in all types of technical security and documentation that keep networks safe while also making them easy to use.

For more information about saying farewell to Flash, see the Adobe Flash Player EOL General Information Page, or contact us at:  https://www.oneil.com/contact/

By Armando Monzon
Director of Software Development