Hi , Need Help Understanding proper software needed for my new macbook first time having it

Keep the system software up to date is all you really need to do. The malware to which you refer had nothing to do with Adobe's Flashplayer.

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

See these Apple articles:

Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

About file quarantine in OS X

If you require anti-virus protection I recommend using ClamXav.

You should upgrade OS X to the latest version, 10.8.3, provided your computer is able to run Mountain Lion:

Upgrading to Mountain Lion

To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.

OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion

1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later

2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later

3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later

5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.

Are my applications compatible?

See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.

For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.

Flash is a web browser plugin or extension that websites code their video and features in so it plays accross all web browsers and platforms.

The user installs and maintains Flash on their computer, thus any website they visit that uses Flash then they can see the content or video as intended.

There are many web browser plugins, but the one used the most is Flash.

You can learn how to install it, keep it updated and where and how from where at my instructional User Tip here

How to install/uninstall Flash, fix problems

Nathan Barber wrote:

im using a macbook pro 13inch and i just want to know what software i have to install to keep it up to date and safe from the flashplayer problem

Just pay attention to what Software Update and / or the AppStore have to say about updates and your system along with the majority of your apps will be kept up-to-date. Some apps have a built-in capability to check for updates each time you launch it, so make sure you have enabled that option. That includes your Flash Player and you will see that option displayed each time you update it as well as in Preferences->Flash Player->Advanced tab. Choose "Notify me to install updates" as the "Allow Adobe to install updates (recommended)" still does not work.

There is no "flashplayer" problem, although there have always been vulnerabilities in the code that Adobe keeps patching, I don't recall any of them ever having been exploited on a Mac yet. The biggest danger here is that you will be tricked into downloading something that is not a Flash Player update, so don't ever trust anything like that you may see in your browser. If you ever think you need to check go to the System Preferences pane I mentioned above and click the "Check Now" button.