Your Adobe Flash Website Will Be Dead
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
If you are still using Adobe Flash on your current website, your Adobe Flash website will be dead by December 2020 because Adobe will no longer update or support Flash after December 2020.
If you are not sure whether your website or web page uses Adobe Flash, you may use the Flash Check tool to find out.
Most professional web agencies or web studios no longer offer Flash websites or provide technical support for Flash websites.
What is Adobe Flash Player?
According to Wikipedia, Adobe Flash is a deprecated multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich Internet applications, desktop applications, mobile applications, mobile games and embedded web browser video players. Adobe Flash Player is computer software for using content created on the Adobe Flash platform, including viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video. Flash Player can run from a web browser as a browser plugin or on supported mobile devices.
Flash Will be Dead in Dec 2020 and so will be Your Adobe Flash Website
On July 25 2017, Adobe announced on their blog that they would stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 in collaboration with Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla. Adobe encourages content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to these new open formats.
According to W3Techs, the market share of Flash in the client-side programming languages for websites has dropped from 28.1% in 2011 to only 2.6% as of June 11, 2020. This downtrend shows that more and more websites are using open web technologies like HTML5 for the following reasons.
- HTML5 has matured with better capabilities and functionalities and become a viable alternative
- lighter
- faster
- more secure when shopping, banking, or reading sensitive information
- mobile-friendly responsive
- works on all devices (desktops, tablets, and smartphones)
On the same day, all the major web browser developers except Apple announced that they would remove Flash completely from their web browsers.
Google will remove Flash completely from Chrome toward the end of 2020.
Microsoft will remove Adobe Flash in Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer across all supported versions of Microsoft Windows by the end of 2020. Users will no longer have any ability to enable or run Flash.
Mozilla will completely remove Flash support from consumer versions of Firefox in December 2020.
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch never supported Flash. For the Mac, the transition from Flash began in 2010 when Flash was no longer pre-installed. Starting Jan 22 2020, Safari no longer supports the Flash plugin.
Adobe Flash Player Vulnerabilities
On Dec 9 2016, Forbes Cybersecurity reported that the Adobe Flash plugin has been abused by hackers to infect people’s computers. It’s still the most popular way for cybercriminals to wreak havoc as Flash bugs accounted for 6 out of 10 vulnerabilities in the most widely-used exploit kits.
The National Security Agency of the United States reported on September 25 2019 that continued use of Adobe Flash invites compromise. Since its release, Adobe has patched over 840 code-execution vulnerabilities in it. When Adobe ends support in 2020, no new patches should be expected for newly reported vulnerabilities. Systems that continue to use Flash are at an increased risk of compromise.
According to NortonLifeLock, an unknown vulnerability was found in Adobe Flash. The Angler Exploit Kit uses this vulnerability to install malware onto a computer and targets the latest version of Flash (version 16.0.0.287). Simply visiting a compromised website can install malware onto a machine via the exploit. There is no action needed on the users’ part to become infected.
What Redesign Options Are Available?
If you wish to revamp your Flash website, here are some options.
Deciding which content management system (CMS) to use to create a professional website is the very first and yet the most critical step. However, there are tons of options available. Below is a summary of the most popular CMS you may use to create a stunning website.
- Hosted platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and WordPress.com where you can find website templates
- Self-hosted platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal
WordPress is the world’s leading content management system (CMS) trusted by over 35% of all the website users worldwide.
A WordPress website has the following main features.
- Simplicity
- Flexibility
- Publish with Ease
- Publishing Tools
- User Management
- Media Management
- Built-in Comments
- Fully Customizable
- Browser Compatibility
- Multilingual Blogs
- Own Your Data
Conclusion
So, if your website is still using Adobe Flash, you have two options. You will need to get a new website from a web agency or remove Flash from your website otherwise it will go blank on all web browsers after December 2020.
