Google_Chrome.JPG

A Google Chrome help screen related to the Flash plugin.

(screenshot from Google Chrome)

There's a good chance your desktop web browser is driving you crazy today with messages about Adobe Flash Player, but there's a good reason why.

Both Google and Mozilla have blocked the plugin on the Chrome and Firefox browsers over serious vulnerability issues that let hackers take over your computer. The move could herald the end for the widely used multimedia software platform, according to The Daily Mail.

Flash, also known as Shockwave Flash, is used by many websites to show videos, games and other types of content. But a spate of recent hacks have revealed serious vulnerabilities.

An Italian hacking group called Hacking Team leaked a series of documents that showed the group using multiple "zero-day" exploits—for which there are not currently patches or fixes—to take over people's computers. Once the details were made public, it left anyone using Flash open to cyberattacks.

Since the leak, three attacks have been discovered, the most recent being rated "critical" by Trend Micro security.

Flash has not yet addressed the problem, though they have promised a fix by the end of the week, according to Computer World. Unfortunately, that's not soon enough for Google and Mozilla, who yanked support for the plugin on Monday.

Chrome users will see an error message on any page using Flash asking them to either upgrade, or "Run this time." Upgrading the plugin currently won't work, but you can run it once to help the specific website's Flash assets load one time.

Firefox users will see a blocked plugin page with the message:

It is believed that the exploits have been around for at least four years.

If your browser hasn't automatically blocked Flash, security researchers are recommending everyone disable the plugin until a patch is issued, but some are going even further, calling for an end to the software entirely, The Guardian reported.

Facebook's security head, Alex Stamos, tweeted that it was time for Flash to be killed off.

He said an industry-wide kill-off date needs to be set to allow developers to transfer to a newer platform, like HTML 5 or Microsoft Silverlight.

"Nobody takes the time to rewrite their tools and upgrade to HTML5 because they expect Flash to live forever. We need a date to drive it," said Stamos.

The Mail notes that Apple has not supported Flash on its iOS since 2010, when co-founder Steve Jobs decided it had poor performance, "abysmal security" and a negative impact on battery life.