Am I OK or in Trouble? Macbook/Flash

[kaneohe]

Yesterday I attempted to change my autopay credit card for our city utility which I have done previously. This time when I logged in to the City site,there was a message up on top (I believe , in a narrow colored bar) that said "it" had detected that my Flash was not the latest version and that I might not be able to view some of the charts. There was a link to download Flash.

Reluctant to click on that link, I proceeded to edit the form to change the credit card. That went ok but when I tried to submit the form, the page turned blank and nothing happened. I tried that several times w/ the same result.

I eventually sucumbed to the download Flash button and the Mac went through the motions of downloading and then installing something. When it was done,
I was able to submit the the form and see confirmation that it had changed as I wanted.

The next day I called the City to confirm that they had that Flash update on their website. The rep thought it was my Mac that detected that Flash needed to be updated to be compatible with their site and that my Mac had provided
that initial message that I might not be able to view some of the charts without updating Flash.

Am I OK or in trouble?

 

[ERD50]

I dunno, but I would NEVER "I eventually sucumbed to the download Flash button".

That could be a pop up from anywhere. Update through the mac updater, or go directly to the Adobe web site for flash. NEVER from a pop-up of unknown origin.

Question for the mac users - does Apple's signature policy protect against malware through these means? I thought it was designed to (but why tempt fate?), so maybe that will provide some assurance?

-ERD50

 

[aja8888]

I also updated Adobe Flash yesterday from a web prompt. I think it's a global update that's available for those who's machines needed it. The prompt took me to Adobe's update page.

 

[eytonxav]

I have a Mac, but by no means am an expert. I do not have Flash installed on my computer, but have also received that notice from certain sites. I doubt you are in trouble, but usually the safe thing to do if in doubt is download from the Apple Store or by going directly to the Adobe site.

That said, right or wrong, I suspect Flash can make computers more vulnerable to virus, etc. and that why I deinstalled it from my machine.

 

[ERD50]

... but usually the safe thing to do if in doubt is download from the Apple Store or by going directly to the Adobe site. ...

+2

I also updated Adobe Flash yesterday from a web prompt. I think it's a global update that's available for those who's machines needed it. The prompt took me to Adobe's update page.

But can you be 100% sure of that? It could be a site made to look like Adobe's. No sense taking a chance.

-ERD50

 

[Just_Steve]

Every so often I go to my bank site and my mac tells me flash out of date, yada, yada, yada. I click the flash update prompt which is computer generated not site generated, been doing it for years with no issues.

 

[nash031]

Everyone do yourself a favor and uninstall Adobe Flash. Adobe is mercifully killing the program (finally) for continued security issues. Yeah, it'll make some websites less convenient, but you'll save yourself myriad computer and security issues by doing so.


http://tidbits.com/article/17367

Unsurprisingly, Adobe made no mention of Flash’s drawbacks, such as security flaws and excessive power usage.

Adobe is partnering with Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla to help move existing Flash content to open standards like the aforementioned HTML5, WebGL, and WebAssembly.

 

[Out of Steam]

Everyone do yourself a favor and uninstall Adobe Flash. Adobe is mercifully killing the program (finally) for continued security issues. [/URL]

Took it off my Macbook about two years ago and have never looked back.

 

[kaneohe]

For those who don't have Flash on their Macs, there must be some equivalent?
What is it?

 

[donheff]

I have stopped using Flash but it can be inconvenient at times since some sites I would like to use continue to use it.

 

[kaneohe]

In preparation for a visit to the Genius Bar tomorrow, I was trying to backup my Mac (which I have done a number of times in the past). Everything seems normal except when I am trying to click "use disc" after the external disc Y is selected. The "use disc" button doesn't look active (dim) and when I click on it , nothing happens. Any ideas?

 

[kaneohe]

I called Apple Tech Support and I didn't get the idiot's answer I was hoping for but I was told to try something in Safe Mode (so I learned how to boot up in Safe Mode). While bumbling around there, I discovered the idiot's answer. The reason I wasn't able to "use disc" was because I hadn't selected any. To my l eyes, I didn't select any because I thought it was selected already....it was on top and looked to me to be brighter than the one on the bottom....duh......for idiots they should make little circles you can click on so it obvious that you have to make a choice.. I guess that's my punishment for not backing up often enough and for getting old and forgetful.

 

[Jerry1]

For those who don't have Flash on their Macs, there must be some equivalent?
What is it?

I have stopped using Flash but it can be inconvenient at times since some sites I would like to use continue to use it.

Microsoft Edge also no longer uses Flash and it can be a pain. When I run into a site that I can't use, I try using Chrome first. I've also tried just moving ahead without it, but that rarely works. I certainly hope people/web sites move away from it quickly.