topic Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users in Electronics

Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Icegoddess — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:16:24 GMT

I got this E-mail Alert today. I use Intego software which is why I got the alert and I checked to make sure the E-mail came from Intego(dot)com.

Security Alert

Intego discovers new malware spreading through malicious
Google search results

Intego has discovered new Mac malware in the wild. Researchers observed that the installer, masquerading as an Adobe Flash Player installer, is giving users instructions that bypass Apple’s built-in security measures.

This new malware is identified as unique variants of OSX/Shlayer and OSX/Bundlore. Read more about this threat on The Mac Security Blog.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Lilysmom — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:33:10 GMT

@Icegoddess , thank you for posting. Is Adobe Flash even required these days? My MacBook Pro is 2016 I think. LM

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Icegoddess — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:41:49 GMT

@Lilysmom wrote:
@Icegoddess , thank you for posting. Is Adobe Flash even required these days? My MacBook Pro is 2016 I think. LM

@Lilysmom I'm not sure anymore. Up until recently I had a jigsaw puzzle app that used it, but I think it finally has eliminated the need for it although I don't like the interface as well.

BTW, my MacBook Pro is a 2013 model.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Lilysmom — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 20:43:29 GMT

I appreciate the heads up @Icegoddess . Reminds me to do a scan. LM

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 21:38:44 GMT

Thanks for posting this, @Icegoddess

Those who do have Adobe Flash installed on their Mac (I do not) should always update it through your System Preferences or the developer's website. Please, never click on the pop-ups.

I believe it's no longer a pre-installed application on newer Macs. It has tended to be unstable and unreliable for a very long time. It is rarely needed now and it will be phased out by the end of 2020 -- I removed it completely several years ago and haven't needed it since then.

If we decide we need the Adobe Flash application for a specific use, going directly to the developer's website and downloading it from there is the safest method -- the only method I would use or recommend.

Then, consider completely removing it -- uninstall it -- rather than keeping it on the device (just my recommendation, but I think you'll find there's no need to keep it). And, of course, never click on any pop-up that tries to tell you you need the software or need to update it -- that has been a nasty, tricky hoax for years and clearly it hasn't gone away,

Thanks, again, @Icegoddess.😊

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 21:33:59 GMT

@dooBdoo @Icegoddess Thank you for this information. How do you stop the pop-ups? They pop up all the time. I would like to eliminate the Adobe pop-ups completely.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 21:47:56 GMT

@NickNack wrote:
@dooBdoo @Icegoddess Thank you for this information. How do you stop the pop-ups? They pop up all the time. I would like to eliminate the Adobe pop-ups completely.

@NickNack, You're welcome. I haven't had the Adobe Flash Player on my Mac for many years so I can't look at the specifics on my device, but you should be able to go into your System Preferences then the Flash Player icon to disable update notifications. Just look at the options you're given when you open the application. Again, though, I'd recommend thinking about uninstalling it unless you're sure you use something that requires it. There are instructions online for the preference settings, and also how to install or uninstall it.

Adobe Flash Player will be phased out by the end of this year -- it was announced back in 2017 and applications and websites have been moving away from it since then.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 21:54:52 GMT

Thank you @dooBdoo . When I tried to disable the updates under System Preferences it says:

"legacy loader is trying to install a new helper tool."

I would have needed to click on it to allow it to do that. I wasn't sure if that was okay to do, so I cancelled it. Should I click on it? I did try to find out how to uninstall Flash Player, and l will need to do that when I have more time. I'm not very computer savvy.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Mz iMac — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 01:38:08 GMT

@NickNack "legacy loader is trying to install a new helper tool."

Legacy = outdated

When was the last time you updated Flash Player?

Which OS are you using?

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 10:49:55 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
@NickNack "legacy loader is trying to install a new helper tool."
Legacy = outdated

When was the last time you updated Flash Player?
Which OS are you using?

@Mz iMac I probably updated Flash Player last week. I'm using Mac OS Catalina 10.15.4. That's what it says when I go into updates under Safari Preferences and click disable updates.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 15:07:22 GMT

@NickNack wrote:
Thank you @dooBdoo . When I tried to disable the updates under System Preferences it says:

"legacy loader is trying to install a new helper tool."

I would have needed to click on it to allow it to do that. I wasn't sure if that was okay to do, so I cancelled it. Should I click on it? I did try to find out how to uninstall Flash Player, and l will need to do that when I have more time. I'm not very computer savvy.

@NickNack, As long as you always installed/updated your Flash Player software through your System Preferences or the official Adobe website it's okay to use the helper tool... but, again, in my opinion the best thing to do is uninstall Adobe Flash Player completely. You always have the option of a fresh installation later if you encounter a need to use it, but since it's already considered essentially obsolete and support for it will be ending at the the end of this year that's not likely.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 17:42:12 GMT

@dooBdoo wrote:
@NickNack wrote:
Thank you @dooBdoo . When I tried to disable the updates under System Preferences it says:

"legacy loader is trying to install a new helper tool."

I would have needed to click on it to allow it to do that. I wasn't sure if that was okay to do, so I cancelled it. Should I click on it? I did try to find out how to uninstall Flash Player, and l will need to do that when I have more time. I'm not very computer savvy.

@NickNack, As long as you always installed/updated your Flash Player software through your System Preferences or the official Adobe website it's okay to use the helper tool... but, again, in my opinion the best thing to do is uninstall Adobe Flash Player completely. You always have the option of a fresh installation later if you encounter a need to use it, but since it's already considered essentially obsolete and support for it will be ending at the the end of this year that's not likely.

Thank you @dooBdoo . I uninstalled it from the directions on the Adobe Flash Player website. It also says that after you uninstall it to delete the following directories:

<home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\Player and another one.

I don't know how to find those two things to delete them. When I Googled it, it seems to start after you've already found them assuming you know how to do that. Can you tell me how to find them?

Thank you so much for your help with this. Uninstalling it was easier than I thought. I had looked it up last night and it seemed complicated.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:36:04 GMT

@NickNack, Super news! Glad you were successful! I hear thunder and just got an alert about lightning coming my way, so I need to shut down but I'll post this quickly to see if it helps.

To manually remove those folders,

look at the Finder menu at the top of the screen,

under "Go"

choose "Go to Folder"

and you'll see a pop-up box that says "Go to the folder:"

and just paste the path name starting with "/Library" there to find and remove the folder.

If you're unfamiliar with this process, look online for info about using this feature or take a look at the Apple.com article.
(It's good to know, in general.)

copy and paste this link:

support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/go-directly-to-a-specific-folder-on-mac-mchlp1236/mac

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Mz iMac — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:53:35 GMT

@NickNack dooBdoo is busy. So I'll try to help you out.

"<home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\Player and another one."

"I don't know how to find those two things to delete them."

NOTE: My Finder setup is Icon view.

Open your Finder window. In the column on the left, select the

"House" = Home

Select the Library folder & click on it.

Select & click on the Preferences folder

Inside the Preferences folder trash the following folders:

Macromedia folder

Flash Player folder

Adobe folder

Also, check for .plist files w/names of the above. If you find any, trash those too.

=================================

After doing the above, open Disk Utilitiy (looks like a disk in your DOCK) & run "First Aid."

When done, restart your computer & empty the trash.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

Mz iMac — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:03:22 GMT

dooBdoo beat me by a minute!

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 21:59:30 GMT

Thank you so much for trying to help me @dooBdoo and @Mz iMac ! When I click on Finder this is what I see. I don't have anything like what you say. I'm clicking on the finder button that's on the very left in the dock.

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:22:54 GMT

@NickNack,

Here's the menu with "Go to Folder" as described in my instructions.

Don't feel rushed to complete this part of the installation, by the way. You'll want to eventually remove the associated folders, but if you're not comfy with this process take some time, read online about how it works, look through the files and folders to acquaint yourself with the layout, and then delete them.

(FYI, @NickNack, Your screen shot displayed personal information... thank you, @Beth-QVC for helping out!😊)

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:09:21 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
dooBdoo beat me by a minute!

Hee-hee!😁 You're a gem, @Mz iMac! Great instructions, as usual! Thanks for being such a consistent and reliable source of help. I appreciate you, my friend. (And you always have the best pix and emojis, too!)

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

NickNack — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:19:13 GMT

Thank you very much @dooBdoo . I finally figured out that the "Go" and "Go to" is at the top of the screen (like you said!) and not at the side. I was looking at the side.

I did what you said and typed in the path starting with /Library. It brought up a lot of files, but none of them looked like what I was looking for. I think I'll just give up. Since I've uninstalled Flash Player is that possibly enough to do?

Re: Alert about Adobe Flash Player for MAC users

dooBdoo — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:21:22 GMT

@NickNack wrote:
Thank you very much @dooBdoo . I finally figured out that the "Go" and "Go to" is at the top of the screen (like you said!) and not at the side. I was looking at the side.

I did what you said and typed in the path starting with /Library. It brought up a lot of files, but none of them looked like what I was looking for. I think I'll just give up. Since I've uninstalled Flash Player is that possibly enough to do?

@NickNack, I think I answered your questions in my previous post -- take a look first and see, and if I didn't just let me know. Take care!❤️