What is this Adobe Flash Player fake update Issue?

Hi,

There area malicious actors out there that take the legitimate Flash Player installer and package it with malicious software, or simply host a virus/malware/etc installer/update and call it Flash Player, or some other permutation of this.  When people perform an internet search for Flash Player installer these sites, along with adobe.com are returned in the search results.  The people knowingly, or unknowingly, go to non-adobe.com site an download a potentially malicious/fake Flash Player installer that infects their system, or click on a fake/malicious Flash Player update notification window (see this article for an example: https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Fake+Adobe+Flash+Update+OS+X+Malware/20693/).  Many of these fake installers have been branded to look very similar to the official/legitimate Flash Player installer.  If you suspect you may have used a fake Flash Player installer to install Flash Player, private message me the link to the site where you downloaded the installer from.  Adobe actively goes after these malicious actors to remove the fake/malicious installers.

If you need to update Flash Player (latest version is 21.0.0.213) go to https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer to dowload the installer.  Alternatively, you can opt into Background Updates and Flash Player automatically downloads and installs an update within 24 hours of the update being available.  To opt into Background Updates do the following:

• If Flash Player is already installed, launch System Preferences > Flash Player > Updates tab
  • Select 'Allow Adobe to install updates automatically (recommended)
• If Flash Player is not installed, go to https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer and download the installer
  • During the installation process, when prompted to select an update option, select 'Allow Adobe to install updates automatically (recommended)

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Maria