Adobe to finally kill Flash Player in 2020
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Even though this was something that most people saw it coming, it’s still hard to believe that it’s actually happening. After such a long time, it seems that Flash is ready to say goodbye for good. The web technology hasn’t been in good shape for a while, and Adobe finally decided to put it down for good.
Many Steve Jobs fans might be cheering the news as the late Apple founder always criticized Flash Player, deeming it an unsecured technology. Not many gave him credit back then and Flash went on to become the worldwide standard for multimedia content on the internet.
Now, many years later, Flash is seen in a completely different perspective. The numerous security loopholes and backdoors opportunities for hackers have made Flash a very dangerous tool for organizations and websites. Some of the biggest attacks of last year have happened due to Flash vulnerabilities. It seemed that Adobe released a new security patch that fixed many critical issues every couple of weeks.
Microsoft is jumping the boat early
The official termination date for Flash seems to be 2020. By that year, there should be no trace of Flash left online. However, Microsoft is joining Google and jumping the boat early. The decision affects both Microsoft Edge, its newer browser, and Internet Explorer, the classic browsing solution.
Microsoft Edge already has a feature that warns users that they’re about to enter a website that uses flash. More specifically, the browser asks for permission before enabling Flash, as requested by the website at hand. However, by default, Flash is no longer the standard solution. It has been replaced with HTLM5 quite some time ago.
Still a way to go
While the first steps have been taken, it’s still going to take a while before Flash is gone for good. Microsoft estimates that it will disable Flash completely in its proprietary browsers by 2020.
Many might see this as a relief while others might be a bit sad to see Flash go. However, the last year or so of Flash’s existence has proved that it’s an “ancient” technology that cannot be trusted. In a time and age where digital security is more critical than ever, it’s just not an option to continue using such a faulty and insecure service.
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