Flash out of date – not!

You need to update Safari to 6.1.5.

Click Software Update from your Apple  drop menu OR open the App Store then select Updates from the menu top of the window.

Once the update is installed launch Safari and try Flash content.

The update alerts are fake, and are intended to dupe you into installing malware or disclosing private information so that your identity can be stolen.

You might get the alerts when visiting a website that has been hacked. Don't visit the site again. If applicable, notify the site administrator of the problem, but don't send email to an unknown party.

If you get the alerts when visiting more than one well-known website, such as Google, YouTube, or Facebook, then they're almost certainly the result of an attack on your router that has caused you to get false results from looking up the addresses of Internet servers. Requests sent to those sites are redirected to a server controlled by the attacker. It's possible, but less likely, that the DNS server used by your ISP has been attacked, but you should assume that the router is at fault until proven otherwise.

The router's documentation should tell you how to reset it to the factory default state. Usually there's a pinhole switch somewhere in the back. It may be labeled "RESET." Insert the end of a straightened paper clip or a similar tool and press the button inside for perhaps 15 seconds, or as long as the instructions specify.

After resetting the router, quit the web browser and relaunch it while holding down the shift key. From the Safari menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Privacy ▹ Remove All Website Data

and confirm. Do the equivalent if you use another browser. Open the Downloads folder and delete anything you don't recognize.

Then go through the router's initial setup procedure. I can't be specific, because it's different for every model. The key points are these:

1. Don't allow the router to be administered from the WAN (Internet) port, if it has that option. Most do.

2. Set a strong password to protect the router's settings: at least ten random upper- and lower-case letters and digits. Don't use the default password or any other that could be guessed. Any password that you can remember is weak.

3. If the router is wireless, or if you have a wireless access point on the network, use "WPA 2 Personal" security and set a different strong password to protect the network. If the router or access point doesn't support WPA 2, it's obsolete and must be replaced.

During the time the router was compromised, you were redirected to bogus websites. If you ever connected to a secure site and got a warning from your browser that the identity of the server could not be verified, and you dismissed that warning in order to log in, assume that your credentials for the site have been stolen and that the attacker has control of the account. This warning also applies to all websites on which you saw the fake update alerts.

Check the router manufacturer's website for a firmware update.

If you downloaded and installed what you thought was a software update, ask for instructions.

What version of Flash do you have?

Open a Finder window. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Foldeer

Type or copy paste the following:

~/Library/Caches/com.adobe.flashplayer.installmanager/Cache.db

Click Go then move the Cache.db file to the Trash.

Then open System Preferences > Flash Player then select the Advanced tab.

Click: Check Now

You might like using Chrome for Flash content better as it's integrated, not a standalone install like Safari.

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-google-chrome.html