This isn’t an interesting blog post – nor even a particularly fair one – but it is pretty astonishing. Adobe’s Flash Player is notoriously vulnerable, and has been blamed for numerous data breaches.

In July, Mozilla began blocking all versions of Flash Player in Firefox and Facebook’s chief security officer Alex Stamos said on Twitter that it was time for Adobe to announce an end-of-life date for Flash.

But have you wondered how many Flash vulnerabilities Adobe have been patched so far this year? I have. So I’ve just been through Adobe’s list of security updates to tot it up.

Omitting multiple patches issued for the same vulnerabilities, I make it a grand total of 311 unique Flash vulnerabilities patched in 2015. Impressive stuff.

Oh, you want the evidence? Here are the CVE numbers:

January

CVE-2015-0301, CVE-2015-0302, CVE-2015-0303, CVE-2015-0304, CVE-2015-0305, CVE-2015-0306, CVE-2015-0307, CVE-2015-0308, CVE-2015-0309, CVE-2015-0310, CVE-2015-0311, CVE-2015-0312.

February

CVE-2015-0313, CVE-2015-0314, CVE-2015-0315, CVE-2015-0316, CVE-2015-0317, CVE-2015-0318, CVE-2015-0319, CVE-2015-0320, CVE-2015-0321, CVE-2015-0322, CVE-2015-0323, CVE-2015-0324, CVE-2015-0325, CVE-2015-0326, CVE-2015-0327, CVE-2015-0328, CVE-2015-0329, CVE-2015-0330, CVE-2015-0331.

March

CVE-2015-0332, CVE-2015-0333, CVE-2015-0334, CVE-2015-0335, CVE-2015-0336, CVE-2015-0337, CVE-2015-0338, CVE-2015-0339, CVE-2015-0340, CVE-2015-0341, CVE-2015-0342.

April

CVE-2015-0346, CVE-2015-0347, CVE-2015-0348, CVE-2015-0349, CVE-2015-0350, CVE-2015-0351, CVE-2015-0352, CVE-2015-0353, CVE-2015-0354, CVE-2015-0355, CVE-2015-0356, CVE-2015-0357, CVE-2015-0358, CVE-2015-0359, CVE-2015-0360, CVE-2015-3038, CVE-2015-3039, CVE-2015-3040, CVE-2015-3041, CVE-2015-3042, CVE-2015-3043, CVE-2015-3044.

May

CVE-2015-3044, CVE-2015-3077, CVE-2015-3078, CVE-2015-3079, CVE-2015-3080, CVE-2015-3081, CVE-2015-3082, CVE-2015-3083, CVE-2015-3084, CVE-2015-3085, CVE-2015-3086, CVE-2015-3087, CVE-2015-3088, CVE-2015-3089, CVE-2015-3090, CVE-2015-3091, CVE-2015-3092, CVE-2015-3093.

June

CVE-2015-3096, CVE-2015-3097, CVE-2015-3098, CVE-2015-3099, CVE-2015-3100, CVE-2015-3101, CVE-2015-3102, CVE-2015-3103, CVE-2015-3104, CVE-2015-3105, CVE-2015-3106, CVE-2015-3107, CVE-2015-3108, CVE-2015-5120, CVE-2015-3113.

July

CVE-2014-0578, CVE-2015-3097, CVE-2015-3114, CVE-2015-3115, CVE-2015-3116, CVE-2015-3117, CVE-2015-3118, CVE-2015-3119, CVE-2015-3120, CVE-2015-3121, CVE-2015-3122, CVE-2015-3123, CVE-2015-3124, CVE-2015-3125, CVE-2015-3126, CVE-2015-3127, CVE-2015-3128, CVE-2015-3129, CVE-2015-3130, CVE-2015-3131, CVE-2015-3132, CVE-2015-3133, CVE-2015-3134, CVE-2015-3135, CVE-2015-3136, CVE-2015-3137, CVE-2015-4428, CVE-2015-4429, CVE-2015-4430, CVE-2015-4431, CVE-2015-4432, CVE-2015-4433, CVE-2015-5116, CVE-2015-5117, CVE-2015-5118, CVE-2015-5119, CVE-2015-5122, CVE-2015-5123 , CVE-2015-5124.

August

CVE-2015-5125, CVE-2015-5127, CVE-2015-5129, CVE-2015-5130, CVE-2015-5131, CVE-2015-5132, CVE-2015-5133, CVE-2015-5134, CVE-2015-5539, CVE-2015-5540, CVE-2015-5541, CVE-2015-5544, CVE-2015-5545, CVE-2015-5546, CVE-2015-5547, CVE-2015-5548, CVE-2015-5549, CVE-2015-5550, CVE-2015-5551, CVE-2015-5552, CVE-2015-5553, CVE-2015-5554, CVE-2015-5555, CVE-2015-5556, CVE-2015-5557, CVE-2015-5558, CVE-2015-5559, CVE-2015-5560, CVE-2015-5561, CVE-2015-5562, CVE-2015-5563, CVE-2015-5564, CVE-2015-5565, CVE-2015-5566, CVE-2015-6682.

September

CVE-2015-5567, CVE-2015-5568, CVE-2015-5570, CVE-2015-5571, CVE-2015-5572, CVE-2015-5573, CVE-2015-5574, CVE-2015-5575, CVE-2015-5576, CVE-2015-5577, CVE-2015-5578, CVE-2015-5579, CVE-2015-5580, CVE-2015-5581, CVE-2015-5582, CVE-2015-5584, CVE-2015-5587, CVE-2015-5588, CVE-2015-6676, CVE-2015-6677, CVE-2015-6678, CVE-2015-6679, CVE-2015-6682.

October

CVE-2015-5569, CVE-2015-7625, CVE-2015-7626, CVE-2015-7627, CVE-2015-7628, CVE-2015-7629, CVE-2015-7630, CVE-2015-7631, CVE-2015-7632, CVE-2015-7633, CVE-2015-7635, CVE-2015-7636, CVE-2015-7637, CVE-2015-7638, CVE-2015-7639, CVE-2015-7640, CVE-2015-7641, CVE-2015-7642, CVE-2015-7643, CVE-2015-7644, CVE-2015-7645, CVE-2015-7647, CVE-2015-7648.

November

CVE-2015-7651, CVE-2015-7652, CVE-2015-7653, CVE-2015-7654, CVE-2015-7655, CVE-2015-7656, CVE-2015-7657, CVE-2015-7658, CVE-2015-7659, CVE-2015-7660, CVE-2015-7661, CVE-2015-7662, CVE-2015-7663, CVE-2015-8042, CVE-2015-8043, CVE-2015-8044, CVE-2015-8046.

December

CVE-2015-8045, CVE-2015-8047, CVE-2015-8048, CVE-2015-8049, CVE-2015-8050, CVE-2015-8418, CVE-2015-8454, CVE-2015-8455, CVE-2015-8055, CVE-2015-8056, CVE-2015-8057, CVE-2015-8058, CVE-2015-8059, CVE-2015-8060, CVE-2015-8061, CVE-2015-8062, CVE-2015-8063, CVE-2015-8064, CVE-2015-8065, CVE-2015-8066, CVE-2015-8067, CVE-2015-8068, CVE-2015-8069, CVE-2015-8070, CVE-2015-8071, CVE-2015-8401, CVE-2015-8402, CVE-2015-8403, CVE-2015-8404, CVE-2015-8405, CVE-2015-8406, CVE-2015-8407, CVE-2015-8408, CVE-2015-8409, CVE-2015-8410, CVE-2015-8411, CVE-2015-8412, CVE-2015-8413, CVE-2015-8414, CVE-2015-8415, CVE-2015-8416, CVE-2015-8417, CVE-2015-8419, CVE-2015-8420, CVE-2015-8421, CVE-2015-8422, CVE-2015-8423, CVE-2015-8424, CVE-2015-8425, CVE-2015-8426, CVE-2015-8427, CVE-2015-8428, CVE-2015-8429, CVE-2015-8430, CVE-2015-8431, CVE-2015-8432, CVE-2015-8433, CVE-2015-8434, CVE-2015-8435, CVE-2015-8436, CVE-2015-8437, CVE-2015-8438, CVE-2015-8439, CVE-2015-8440, CVE-2015-8441, CVE-2015-8442, CVE-2015-8443, CVE-2015-8444, CVE-2015-8445, CVE-2015-8446, CVE-2015-8447, CVE-2015-8448, CVE-2015-8449, CVE-2015-8450, CVE-2015-8451, CVE-2015-8452, CVE-2015-8453, CVE-2015-8456, CVE-2015-8457.

Patch management

The exploitation of known vulnerabilities is one of the easiest methods by which cyber criminals can hack websites, so the importance of maintaining up-to-date software is paramount for all organisations that value their information security. If you continue to use unsupported or vulnerable versions, then your website runs a significantly higher risk of compromise.

Penetration testing

If you’re unsure about your patch management practices and are concerned about your organisation’s susceptibility to online attack, you’ll be interested in IT Governance’s penetration testing packages. Designed to identify vulnerabilities and provide remedial measures that you can take to secure your systems, they provide a complete solution for the routine security testing of your websites and IT systems to ensure that your networks and applications remain secure against cyber attacks.