Mozilla to block certain Flash content in browser from August

Mozilla Firefox plans to block "certain Flash content that is not essential to the user experience" from August and then keeping it off by default starting 2017.

Mozilla said in a blog post that though it would continue to support legacy flash content after August, starting 2017, it would required "click-to-activate approval" before a website activated Flash plugin for any content.

Acknowledging the role of Flash in providing video and interactive content on web, Mozilla said it often introduced issues related to stability, performance, and security, for browsers, which had necessitated the changes.

Mozilla said the changes would lead to enhanced security, improved battery life, faster page load, and better browser responsiveness for users, and went on to claim that blocking certain Flash content would cut hangs and crashes by up to 10 per cent.

Mozilla also advised websites that currently used Flash or Silverlight for video or games to plan to switch to HTML technologies at the earliest. Mozilla would, however, continue to work with Adobe to improve the Flash experience, whenever the plugin was enabled on the browser.

The move comes after Mozilla, in July blocked all versions of the Web plugin by default, following the discovery of a major vulnerability in Flash.

Google Widevine and Adobe Primetime for encrypted video playback are currently supported in Flash.

Cutbacks on the use of Adobe Flash on the internet forms part of an overall move to eliminate the use of browser plugins and making the web more secure for surfers, according to commentators.

Plugins, especially the one for Adobe Flash, are often targeted by hackers. They also cause problems of instability as also performance issues. The move to HTML 5 essentially eliminated the need for Flash.