Adobe Flash Player

There are fake notices to that Flash is out of date, designed to put malware (usually adware) on your computer. This ploy has been around for several years. They will pop up even if your Flash is current.

First, ever, and always, ONLY get Flash from Adobe's official site, and never by cliking "OK" in a popup that says Flash is out of date. That way you avoid the problems associated with fake update messages. Adobe official source for Flash is here:

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer

Here's what I do If I see a notice that Flash requires updating:

1) I go to System Preferences > Flash Player and click the "Updates" tab to view my current Flash version:

2) Then I go to the Adobe site I linked to find what is the latest version:

Note in the images the versions are the same. If they are not I download the current version from the same page.

As you may have responded to a fake update notice, you should review this article on adware to see if you managed to pick up some of it:

http://www.thesafemac.com/arg/

and more info of the fake Flash scams here:

http://www.thesafemac.com/genieo-adware-downloaded-through-fake-flash-updates/#m ore-1009

Most forms f adwre wil lslow a Mac.

A genuine alert that Flash is outdated and blocked is shown on this page. Follow the instructions on the page in that case. Otherwise, the alert is not trustworthy and someone may be trying to scam you into installing malware. If you see fake update prompts on more than one website, or if you've already followed one of the fake prompts, ask for instructions.

Flash Player should ONLY be installed from Adobe’s website.

You can check here what version of Flash player you actually have installed: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html

You can check here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/ to see which version you should install for your Mac and OS. You should first uninstall any previous version of Flash Player, using the uninstaller from here (make sure you use the correct one!):

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/909/cpsid_90906.html

and also that you follow the instructions closely, such as closing ALL applications (including Safari) first before installing. It is highly recommended that you carry out a permission repair after installing anything from Adobe.

After installing, reboot your Mac and relaunch Safari, then in Safari Preferences/Security enable ‘Allow Plugins’. If you are running 10.6.8 or later:

When you have installed the latest version of Flash, relaunch Safari and test.

If you're getting a "blocked plug-in" error, then in System Preferences… ▹ Flash Player ▹ Advanced

click Check Now. Quit and relaunch your browser. More advice here:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/unblock-safari-plug-ins-on-mac-360 8065/

Facebook dropping all but the very latest version of Flash:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/14/facebook-end-adobe-flash-firef ox-blocks-hacking

Adobe Flash Player has been, and will always continue to be, a potential vector for malware intrusion.

You have already been given some sound advice, but add to all of it: consider uninstalling Flash Player and not using it. That is by far the best way to hasten Adobe Flash Player's demise, an inevitable fate that it richly deserves.

Read http://globalnews.ca/news/2109475/time-to-kill-flash-why-tech-companies-are-call ing-on-adobe-to-pull-the-plug/ for some other opinions and justifications for them.

To uninstall Flash Player follow Adobe's instructions here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html

Most websites containing videos no longer use Flash. Those that do often use Flash videos to convey intrusive, bandwidth-demanding advertisements that you probably don't want anyway. Uninstall it and determine if the sites you use still require it; you may be pleasantly surprised.

If you can't live without it, you can always reinstall it again. As with any non-Apple software product, it is incumbent upon you to maintain Flash Player, obtain updates from verifiably authorized sources, and ensure that it remains up to date.