For years, tech writers have been announcing the impending
demise of the Adobe Flash plug-in. It's still not dead heading in to 2017, but
Microsoft and Google are getting ready to introduce changes that will
accelerate the process.
They're going to disable Flash by default in their browsers.
You'll still be able to play a Flash-based game or stream a video, you're just
going to have to tell your browser that you really want to do it.
This is a very, very good thing. There are a number of
reasons why, including improved battery life on laptops. The most important
reason, however, is that Flash is still a cybercriminal's favorite way to
attack your web browser. 2016 was a
banner year for Flash-based exploits.
Keeping Flash up-to-date still isn't enough to keep you
safe. It's time to shut it down.
Say Hello To Click-To-Play
Starting in January, Google will flip the switch on
"click-to-play" in Chrome. When you land on a page that wants to load
Flash content, Chrome will alert you. You'll be able to approve or deny that
request, and Chrome will remember your choices on a per-site basis.
