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Flash Player Security Issues

bikeboy (GB1)bikeboy (GB1) Posts: 486
i just came upon the following on the web, published a few hours ago  " The fun never ends with Adobe Flash.

Just one day after Adobe released its monthly security patches for various software including Flash Player, the company confirmed a major security vulnerability that affects all versions of Flash for Windows, Mac and Linux computers. You read that correctly… all versions. Adobe said it has been made aware that this vulnerability is being used by hackers to attack users, though it says the attacks are limited and targeted. Using the exploit, an attacker can crash a target PC or even take complete control of the computer.

And now for the fun part: The only way to effectively protect yourself against this serious security hole is to completely uninstall Flash Player from your machine.


So will GGS continue to tell us all that we are perfectly safe when Adobe themselves say flash player is vulnerable 

http://bgr.com/2015/10/15/adobe-flash-player-security-vulnerability-warning/

Post edited by WascallyWabbit (FormerMod) on

Comments

  • adoptapet (US1)adoptapet (US1) Posts: 1,760
    edited 15.10.2015
    Wow, let's keep this on top until a Moderator comments.  Much more serious than the video threat, in my non-techie opinion.

    Bikeboy, can you add something to the title like "threat"  or "security issue"?  I almost did not read it because I thought the post was about crashes and lags.
  • jess_d (US1)jess_d (US1) US1 Posts: 3,515
    edited 15.10.2015

    Latten commented on this in another thread on the old forum. I don't want to say what was posted since I can't recall for sure. I'll look around to see if I can find it.

    Here's the link for the thread......

    https://community.goodgamestudios.com/bigfarm/en/discussion/43336/how-safe-is-big-farm-with-adobe-flash-player

    Here's the direct link to Latten's post if you don't want to scroll through....

    https://community.goodgamestudios.com/bigfarm/en/discussion/comment/853190/#Comment_853190

    Post edited by jess_d (US1) on
  • Cheers but I know what was said before. That was when Firefox temporary blocked Adobe flash Player. However what was said was not completely correct.. Big farm will NOT harm our computers that is correct but Big Farm uses Adobe Flash player which COULD harm our computers. This is NOT a complaint against GGS, it is FACT that is on the web, certain BIG companies... much bigger than GGS have stopped or are stopping the use of Adobe Flash player because it is so vulnerable to hackers. If we take Google, they want us to use Google safely, so warn us about the threats with using Flash player and try to protect us... on the other hand another company wants our business BADLY and to warn us  of the  possible threats ( let us choose if to keep running Flash Player) could mean losing valuable customers.

    As I have said else where I am still playing as I believe the risk is very small, who wants to target my pocket money, but if the risk is minimal, it is still a risk.. and any site that using adobe flash player SHOULD be warning the people that use it, it is not Big Farm that will be effected, the hackers use ADOBE FLASH PLAYER to access your computer, yes our computers not the servers at GGS. So Big Farm is safe from them, and Big farm itself will not harm our computers.

  • jess_d (US1)jess_d (US1) US1 Posts: 3,515

    I don't know, I guess we just have to decide if we're willing to take the risk. Maybe eventually GGS will stop using Adobe Flash. Its possible to have our computers hacked in many ways. My computer was hacked through Google+. He took complete control and we couldn't do anything with the mouse or keyboard. Thankfully my computer is touch screen, otherwise I don't know what would've happened. I had anti virus protection and all that but it never detected anything.

    I wish I could be more helpful but I don't know much about it really. :/

  • Artmaker (GB1)Artmaker (GB1) GB1 Posts: 1,495
    Well as a mac user, I'm sure once apple thinks there is a threat they will block safari from using flash until flash gets fixed.   Fouls up every darn site I use that uses flash until I update the stupid thing.

    I wish sites would just stop using it.  Find something better.  


  • NafaruNafaru Posts: 3,047
    Hey everyone, 

    Adobe has announced that they expect to have a Flash player update today in order to fix the issue and prevent further potential limited targeted attacks. You can follow their announcement here

    As for security, of course by creating or using browser games, you know that additional software is required in order for the game to be played. There is a wide variety of browsers out there and we cannot completely rule out that there will never be a security issue with one of them. Same goes for Adobe's Flash player, unfortunately. 

    That's why we would encourage you to avoid visiting shady websites, keeping your protection software, such as firewalls and antivirus, up to date and to keep an open eye on news announcements for the software you are using. 

    Until the issue is fixed, you could use an alternate Flash player, such as Chrome's built in PepperFlash. It has some more built in security features and is also available as a plug in for Chromium and Opera. 

    Regards, 
    Steffi


  • Aha, sounds good advice, as we know the WWW is a very devious place full of rouges and big farms players. Just a query ... the flash player in Chrome is still Adobe Flash Player... yes ?
    Yesterday I had a shed load of problems with Chrome and Big Farm, could not get on the forum to report it, logged in but as soon as I read a post it told me to log in. The game was very slow, If I moved the cursor over my farm, the building etc got highlighted about 3 seconds later, same with harvesting click to harvest and nothing for 3 seconds. Yes I cleared the cache and gave my computer a bath, but no joy, So I un-installed Chrome and Re installed it.. seemed to do the trick. 
    As for the hackers, I am keeping my bonfire toffee / chocolate and slime slices out of sight.
  • Well as a mac user, I'm sure once apple thinks there is a threat they will block safari from using flash until flash gets fixed.   Fouls up every darn site I use that uses flash until I update the stupid thing.

    I wish sites would just stop using it.  Find something better.  



    Yes Artmaker, No idea if GGS intend to go the hmtl5 route like a lot of other game sites, not that they would forewarn  us, I am sure the new additions to Big Farm could be made using hmtl but we would still need flash player for the older bits. So would that mean a total shutdown .. new game ? Not scare mongering just wondering things out loud  lol. The game could be made a whole lot better without Flash Player.
  • Data King (US1)Data King (US1) US1 Posts: 7,994
    Here are a couple of things I use to help keep me safe or safer.
    Spybot S&D v2.4
    Adaware ll
    malwarebytes
    I run these weekly and they have caught many bugs and prevented most hackers from getting in to my computers. I suggest to just google them and do some research before signing up and or down loading them into your computer.
  • Malwarebytes is excellent, the pro version blocks bad sites. I work in online  security, know those that research to find the bad sites/downloads. I use Avira free, Malwarebytes, Online Armor free firewall and never without Win Patrol either. Nothing gets in my pc I don't want. :)
  • I have read the announcement by GGS  "We're aware of an issue, causing the game to respond very slowly when using the latest Flash versions (.207/.226) in Chrome. Unfortunately, this is a global issue that we cannot influence as it is caused by Chrome's built-in Flash player. 

    If you're affected, please use another browser (e.g. Firefox or Opera) for the time being. Thank you!"

    I therefore started to check on the WWW what chrome are doing about this, and I cannot find any recent articles, so the question is .. will it be fixed if GGS are blaming Chrome , yet Chrome do not seem to know about this. All this seems to have happened after GGS started experimenting with some other browser/server. When I brought this subject up about adobe flash security GGS said that we the players were safe, yet here we are with major issues ( not necessary security based) with FLASH PLAYER. Only last week the forum CM's issued a comment saying to use Chrome because the pepper Flash has more security features, a week later we hit problems and we are told now to use the less secure versions of flash player in Firefox and Opera ... No mention of Internet explorer ! If we disable pepper flash and use the "run of the mill" versions, we in theory should be fine... i'll go try it.
    I have sent a screenshot of the comment made by GGS to Google Chrome to see if they have any answers on this issue, I have used Chrome to access and use sites that require Flash Player and found no problems.. so I find it hard to believe the problem is "global" 
     As always we only get very limited information, but a few things remain the same within any released information... its not the fault of GGS and here is a work around ! The only really safe and secure thing to do is to disable Flash player, BUT that will mean not playing Big Farm, which is the last thing that most of us want to do, another bit of information that GGS fail to tell us is that Opera uses the same version of Flash Player as Chrome... so how does Opera work ok with the same Flash Player as Chrome ? 


    Internet Explorer - ActiveX19.0.0.226
    Internet Explorer, Edge (embedded) (Windows 8.x/10) - ActiveX19.0.0.226
    Firefox, Mozilla - NPAPI19.0.0.226
    Chrome (embedded), Opera, Chromium-based browsers - PPAPI19.0.0.226
  • NafaruNafaru Posts: 3,047
    Only last week the forum CM's issued a comment saying to use Chrome because the pepper Flash has more security features, a week later we hit problems and we are told now to use the less secure versions of flash player in Firefox and Opera ... 
    We advised everyone with concerns about the recent security leaks (that were fixed&closed in most recent versions) to consider Chrome until any updates were made. 

    These security updates are now live, so there is no more need to worry about this specific leak if you updated to most recent versions. 

    However, some issues with Pepperflash have arisen. That is why we suggest trying another browser in case you are affected, as a workaround until those issues can be fixed. 
  • Well as a mac user, I'm sure once apple thinks there is a threat they will block safari from using flash until flash gets fixed.   Fouls up every darn site I use that uses flash until I update the stupid thing.

    I wish sites would just stop using it.  Find something better.  


    Artmaker you were partly correct, they have now blocked the older versions of adobe Flash, which is understandable as Adobe only seem to issue security fixes to the most current versions. Like IE, some people prefer the older versions.
  • I don't know if this is the right thread but didn't know what this would come under.  I was playing a few minutes ago when the game suddenly shut down and I had the following in the address bar -

    stats3.unrulymedia.com/audience/blank.gif?

    What does this mean please?

  • CM NafaruCM Nafaru Posts: 1,325

    I don't know if this is the right thread but didn't know what this would come under.  I was playing a few minutes ago when the game suddenly shut down and I had the following in the address bar -

    stats3.unrulymedia.com/audience/blank.gif?

    What does this mean please?

    Hey ShanzyR,

    what exactly do you mean by "shuts down"?

    The URL is one of our video partners', so this might have appeared after the game crashed while watching a video? Do you maybe have screenshots for us?

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards
    Steffi
  • Hi Steffi.  Sorry I don't have a screenshot, but the game closed suddenly and I got a white page with 'This page could not be found' message and the unrulymedia URL in the address bar.  I do have the video option but had not been watching a video when it happened.
  • CM NafaruCM Nafaru Posts: 1,325
    Hi Steffi.  Sorry I don't have a screenshot, but the game closed suddenly and I got a white page with 'This page could not be found' message and the unrulymedia URL in the address bar.  I do have the video option but had not been watching a video when it happened.
    Hmmm, interesting.

    Do you have any sort of firewall, malware protection or anti-virus software or addons installed that could have reacted to there being a video frim unrulymedia available?

    I'll pass your information on already, as you definitely shouldn't be taken off-site. However, if this was caused by software basically "freezing" your game in order to block any external video data loaded in the background, there will be only so much we can do.
  • CM Nafaru said:
    Hi Steffi.  Sorry I don't have a screenshot, but the game closed suddenly and I got a white page with 'This page could not be found' message and the unrulymedia URL in the address bar.  I do have the video option but had not been watching a video when it happened.
    Hmmm, interesting.

    Do you have any sort of firewall, malware protection or anti-virus software or addons installed that could have reacted to there being a video frim unrulymedia available?

    I'll pass your information on already, as you definitely shouldn't be taken off-site. However, if this was caused by software basically "freezing" your game in order to block any external video data loaded in the background, there will be only so much we can do.

    Thanks Steffi.  Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again, but if it does I will try to get screenshot and also try to remember what I was doing at the time.
  • CM Nafaru said:
    Hi Steffi.  Sorry I don't have a screenshot, but the game closed suddenly and I got a white page with 'This page could not be found' message and the unrulymedia URL in the address bar.  I do have the video option but had not been watching a video when it happened.
    Hmmm, interesting.

    Do you have any sort of firewall, malware protection or anti-virus software or addons installed that could have reacted to there being a video frim unrulymedia available?

    I'll pass your information on already, as you definitely shouldn't be taken off-site. However, if this was caused by software basically "freezing" your game in order to block any external video data loaded in the background, there will be only so much we can do.
    Hmmmm very interesting ... ShanzyR says she was not watching a video when the page crashed.. so why would any software be trying to block any data being loaded by a video that is not being accessed ? This videoAd stuff is one of the worst things that GGS could bring out, unless of course they wish to blame problems on the "3rd Parties". After watching any of these " dodgy" video's I always run my anti spyware and malware which bring up hundreds of "dodgy" files . These 3rd party sites are not as honest and safe as GGS would like us to think.
    " you definitely shouldn't be taken off-site." but she obviously was ! ! !
  • I have been checking up on the Adobe issues. I still cannot find anything with regards an issue with Chrome and pepper flash. So again a question arises If Chrome have no reported issues and GGS continue to blame 3rd Parties will this issue ever get fixed ? GGS themselves do not seem to have updated us on anything except change browsers and carry on . Chrome is running great on every other site that I go to,  Use the other browsers for Big Farm and its flash crash time . Someone ( cannot find your post) told us about Maxthon browser, i have been testing it and it is showing great results, not only can i play Big Farm a a fast pace, other sites are speedy. Maxthon does not have the re install Flash player upon start up that IE, Opera, Firfox, palemoon etc can have .

    So GGS any update on the Chrome/pepper flash issues or is it now just swept under the carpet and somebody else's problem ! 
  • BriannospamGame (SKN1)BriannospamGame (SKN1) Posts: 1,803
    edited 30.10.2015

    So GGS any update on the Chrome/pepper flash issues or is it now just swept under the carpet and somebody else's problem ! 
    Remember GGS are Goods!
    And GGS's holy Bible say's:
    Rule 1: GGS do never doing mistakes!
    Rule 2: If someting goes wrong in the game, always remember rule 1 !

    Ps: until yesterday the game runs fine here, for more than a hour in Opera before it was necesarry to reload the game.
    Now already af few minutes, the game begin running slow and lagging in Opera :(  (I guess GGS now will tell us that's a Opera problem?)
  • CM NafaruCM Nafaru Posts: 1,325
    So GGS any update on the Chrome/pepper flash issues or is it now just swept under the carpet and somebody else's problem ! 
    We have set up a task force to investigate the ongoing issues with latest Flash versions causing problems with Big Farm - especially in Chrome.

    We're looking to provide workarounds and improve our software (if possible) in order to alleviate the problems as best as possible. So far we unfortunately have no results yet.

    (...)
    Remember GGS are Goods!
    And GGS's holy Bible say's:
    Rule 1: GGS do never doing mistakes!
    Rule 2: If someting goes wrong in the game, always remember rule 1 !
    Aw, don't be silly.

    We're always happy to investigate if we're at fault if any problems arise.
    However, our investigations always go both ways, since experience shows that a lot of problems can arise if e.g. software installed on your system is misconfigured for browsergames or not up to date.

    This lag issue is global across all our games. Common points for all affected users lie within their Flash versions and especially Chrome being affected. This is probably to blame on recent changes in how Chrome handles browser plugins, but as said before, we now have a task force specifically looking into this matter at hand.
  • BriannospamGame (SKN1)BriannospamGame (SKN1) Posts: 1,803
    edited 30.10.2015
    CM Nafaru said:
    So GGS any update on the Chrome/pepper flash issues or is it now just swept under the carpet and somebody else's problem ! 
    We have set up a task force to investigate the ongoing issues with latest Flash versions causing problems with Big Farm - especially in Chrome.

    We're looking to provide workarounds and improve our software (if possible) in order to alleviate the problems as best as possible. So far we unfortunately have no results yet.

    (...)
    Remember GGS are Goods!
    And GGS's holy Bible say's:
    Rule 1: GGS do never doing mistakes!
    Rule 2: If someting goes wrong in the game, always remember rule 1 !
    Aw, don't be silly.

    We're always happy to investigate if we're at fault if any problems arise.
    However, our investigations always go both ways, since experience shows that a lot of problems can arise if e.g. software installed on your system is misconfigured for browsergames or not up to date.

    This lag issue is global across all our games. Common points for all affected users lie within their Flash versions and especially Chrome being affected. This is probably to blame on recent changes in how Chrome handles browser plugins, but as said before, we now have a task force specifically looking into this matter at hand.
    But it's not silly to tell people they should deactivate adblockers...
    ... and also somewhere I read something about it could be antivirus programs that maybe gives video problems.   - maybe GGS's next advise for video problems will be people should deactivate their antivirus programs?

    Come on lets try to get serious about several facts and things:

    Facts no. 1: There have never before september have been so many different problems with the game as there is now..

    Facts no. 2: Since the videos have been implemented, more players than before september complaints about game speed problems.

    Facts no. 3: Several players have reported they can play other webgames in Chrome without problems... only Bigfarm seems to have problems with Chrome.
    - Also I was sometimes playing on other websites with Chrome without problems.

    Facts. no. 4: Lots of people don't like advertising they don't have search after and/or ask for... that's why popup-killers and addblockers are very popular software.
    - How many players do you think will see these 3rd party advertising-videos, if they never get a reward for it?

    Facts no. 5: On other websites where I sometimes playing, there is an opt in/out for advertisement: If I play for real money, I get no 3rd party advertisements... If I only play for free, I get get 3'rd party advertisement.
    - Why can bigfarm not give us the same choice: Free players get the 3rd party videos whatever they like it or not, and player who have buy gold have an option so they can enebale/disable themself from the video feature.

    Facts no. 6: Many of your 3'rd party partner trying to save files on my pc even I never have seen any of their videos or visit their websites! :(
    - Why?
    How usefull are these 3'rd party files for me, when I never see their videos and never visit their sites?


    Can we make a deal and an experiment?
    As you maybe know, I have 2 farms: BriannospamDK on the us server, and BriannospamGame on the skn server, and on both I am a involuntary laboratory rat :(
    Let's make this deal: You disable the video feature on the one of my farms (I'm don't care which one of them), so I can compare the difference between the video feature on, and the video feature off, and tell you about it, and even its gives me more hassle I'm also willing to test both farms in 4 different browsers I have on my pc: Opera, Maxthon, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge (Normaly I never use MS$ Edge)

    But do not expect I also will try see some of the videos! - If you want me to do take that risk, you may pay me for it in real money!
  • A task force, so that is it, once they've had their cup of tea it'll be Manchester Screwdriver time ( for those not aware of a manchester screwdriver, it is the biggest hammer you can lift) A little story here about this computer and internet, or Yorkypoo's computer. We had lots and lots of problems with the speed and connections dropping. One big difference between the service provider and GGS, the magic thing called a phone. As you know Yorkypoo does not mess about, straight to the point. I do not know how many phone calls, text, e mails that blamed the set up here, out came 2 engineers result " nothing wrong with the set up" but still we were told "there is a problem with the set up in your home"  ( remind you of another company ? ) A letter from a solicitor to the service provider resulted in another engineer, this time they changed over some cables in the street and the speed etc is now superb. Compensation has also been paid for the 4 months of problems. My point is .. how many times do GGS say it is everybody else's fault but their own ? Personally I think adobe has a lot to do with it. The thing with the videoAds is no matter who supply's them there is almost always "extra" bits thrown in. One may wonder why so many of the videoAd company's make so much money, because they allow other advertising or spy ware to be attached to the videos. They may not admit it, turn a blind eye for now ! GGS cannot say for sure that all these videoAds are safe, because they are not. The videoAds is one of the worst things GGS could do because they simply are not in control of the "rubbish" that come packaged with the ads. Then again as soon as a problem arises GGS can simply blame the videoAds, the same videos that they promote as safe.
    Now seeing as the problems that Yorkypoo brought up over a year ago  are still present within the game, getting told the same thing "refresh the game, or clear cache" how much investigation is being carried out ?  Of course it is not just Big Farm, players should visit the other games forums, I will not spoil your surprise upon visiting them
  • I really think this is something to do with the videos/advertisers that are running for some but not all.

    I use Chrome with an ad blocker running I do not have the videos and I have zero problems. No slowdowns, no issues at all.

    Seems to me if this is a chrome/flash player problem then I should be having issues the same as others but mine is running perfectly.

    I think GG should be giving players the option, to op out of the videos if they don't want to see them, no amount of earned gold is going to compensate for not being able to play the game. If I do get the videos/advertising you will be loosing a player. I came here to play Big Farm not watch advertising that is not what I signed up for or have ever agreed too.

  • @bikeboy (GB1)  I had a similar problem with my ISP when my internet quit working & to cut a VERY long story short, after they blamed the whole world & his wife, it turned out to be them. So, yes, companies do make mistakes, they do their tests & don`t see anything obvious, so its easier to blame some outside cause & send us off on a wild goose chase, because I am sure, more often than not, it will be something else & it saves them the time & effort of doing extensive investigations of their own systems.

    If 1 or 2 people have problems connecting to BF or performance issues with their game, then it makes sense to suggest they check everything at their end, because if there was a massive breakdown with GGS, clearly more people would be effected. Just as it makes sense that when the numbers of complaints increase, they start to look for things that players have in common (flash versions, browsers, OS, security, connections etc) The fact that GGS has now assigned a task force to investigate the performance issues, sounds to me like they ARE taking it seriously & investing resources in tracking the problem. Yet you continue to berate them, they are no better or worse than any other company, but its like they just can`t win with you, you critisize them endlessly for not fixing bugs in the game & then you expect them to use their tech team to chase down every little performance issue anyone has, just in case it is a problem their end, then when they do accept that something may need investigating & they put a team on it, you take the p*ss about that too, with comments like "A task force, so that is it, once they've had their cup of tea it'll be Manchester Screwdriver time".

  • Windows have issued some security updates this week and  "Separately, Adobe issued a patch for its Flash Player software that fixes at least 17 vulnerabilities in the program and in Adobe AIR. Adobe says it is not aware of any exploits in the wild for issues addressed in this update, but readers should seriously consider whether having Flash installed and/or enabled in the browser is worth the risk. 

    brokenflash-aNew analysis from Recorded Future shows that Adobe Flash Player provided eight of the top 10 vulnerabilities used by exploit kits in 2015. Exploit kits are crimeware packages meant to be stitched into the fabric of hacked Web sites; when a visitor arrives with outdated browser plugins, that visitor’s computer is silently seeded with malware. Eighty percent of the time, these kits are checking for browsers that aren’t up to date with Flash patches."  


    So once again the world is asking if having flash player installed is worth the risk, i suppose its like playing with a loaded gun, if it goes off and shoots you dead, its too late to worry if its worth it. 

  • Thanks bikeboy :)

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