Mozilla Firefox will Block Flash starting August


Mozilla's Firefox browser will start blocking Flash content and end Flash in Firefox from August 2016, the company said last July 20. This is to lessen slow disintegration of the aging plugin.

Mozilla also said that from 2017, it would adopt a new click-to-activate policy that will require users to approve the use of Flash for any content on a page, advising sites that use Adobe's plugin or Microsoft Silverlight to "plan on adopting HTML technologies as soon as possible."  Firefox currently supports encrypted video playback using Adobe Primetime and Google Widevine as alternatives to plugin video."

- THE CHANGE IS EXPECTED TO REDUCE CRASHES BY 10 PERCENT

The change is expected to reduce Flash-related crashes and hangs in Firefox by up to 10 percent, as well as giving users "enhanced security, improved battery life, faster page load, and better browser responsiveness", the company stated. The Flash browser plugin is a usual target of hackers exploiting its bugs and vulnerabilities.

The company is following the lead of many of its tech peers in phasing out Flash, including Google, Microsoft, and Apple, all of whom outlined plans to stop showing the aging plugin by default in their browsers earlier this year.


Source: The Verge

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