Intego Weighs In on the Security Side of Flash 10.1 for Mac OS X

Intego, the Mac-specialized security firm, has issued a note looking at Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1, which delivers not only playback improvements, but also some security fixes. One particularly noteworthy aspect regarding the update is that G3-based Mac users are looking at their last Flash Player update.

Earlier this month, Intego issued a security memo claiming to have discovered a spyware application that was downloaded as a result of installing a number of freely distributed pieces of Mac software. It then covered topics such as the delayed Adobe Acrobat patch, Microsoft’s security updates for Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, Apple’s release of Safari 5, and even the AT&T data breach on iPads. Intego’s latest blog post looks at Flash 10.1 for Mac OS X.

“Adobe has released a new version of its Flash Player software, and with it has patched a number of security vulnerabilities, including a recent zero-day vulnerability that is being exploited in the wild,” the security firm says. “Altogether, 32 security issues are fixed, in addition to the software providing new features. As Adobe says in its security advisory, ‘These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.’ (Details of individual bugs are provided on the security advisory page.),” Intego goes to note, and offers up a download link for the new Flash Player.

Intego then points out to a note from Adobe’s security advisory concerning PPC G3 Macs.

“The Adobe Flash Player 10.1.53.64 release will be the last version to support Macintosh PowerPC-based G3 computers. Adobe will be discontinuing support of PowerPC-based G3 computers and will no longer provide security updates after the Flash Player 10.1.53.64 release. This unavailability is due to performance enhancements that cannot be supported on the older PowerPC architecture.”

Although Adobe makes it clear for owners of a G3-based Mac that this will be their last Flash Player update, Intego itself adds that future releases will not be supported on such old hardware.