Adobe has released a public beta version of its Flash Player software for Firefox that forces the program to run in a heightened security mode or “sandbox” designed to block attacks that target vulnerabilities in the software.

Sandboxing is an established security mechanism that runs the targeted application in a confined environment that blocks specific actions by that app, such as installing or deleting files, or modifying system information. The same technology has been built into the latest versions of Adobe Reader X, and it has been enabled for some time in Google Chrome, which contains its own integrated version of Flash. But this is the first time sandboxing has been offered in a public version of Flash for Firefox.

Flash is a big target of attackers partly because it is a powerful program with a huge install base; vulnerability management firm Secunia estimates that some version of Flash is installed in 96 percent of the world’s Microsoft PCs. Windows users can further harden their systems against such attacks by swapping out their current version of Flash for this beta.

The sandboxed Flash for Firefox — Flash Player 11.2 beta 5 — works with Firefox 4 or later running on Window Vista or Windows 7. The latest build is available here.

I’ve been using the beta version for nearly two days now without incident on a Windows 7 Firefox 10 install (with Firefox running under Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, or EMET). But if you do experience glitches or compatibility issues, you can always revert back to the non-sandboxed version. If you decide to try the beta, make sure to uninstall the current version using Adobe’s Flash uninstaller tool; then grab and install the beta.

Security experts have spotted drive-by malware attacks exploiting a critical security hole in Windows that Microsoft recently addressed with a software patch. Separately, Symantec is warning users of its pcAnywhere remote administration tool to either update or remove the program, citing a recent data breach at the security firm that the company said could help attackers find holes in the aging software title.

On Thursday, Trend Micro said it had encountered malware that leverages a vulnerability in the way Windows handles certain media files. This is a browse-and-get-owned flaw for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 users, meaning these folks can infect their machines merely by browsing to a hacked or malicious site hosting a specially crafted media file. If you run Windows and have delayed installing this month’s updates, consider taking care of that now by visiting Windows Update.

Trend Micro competitor Symantec also issued a warning this week — about threats to its own software. Responding to a now widely-publicized break-in that resulted in the theft of its proprietary source code in 2006, Symantec issued a 10-page white paper with recommendations for customers still using this software. The company says fewer than 50,000 people are still using pcAnywhere, but those who are should consider applying newly-released updates, or removing the program altogether.

From that whitepaper (PDF):

With this incident pcAnywhere customers have increased risk. Malicious users with access to the source code have an increased ability to identify vulnerabilities and build new exploits. Additionally, customers that are not following general security best practices are susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks which can reveal authentication and session information. General security best practices include endpoint, network, remote access, and physical security, as well as configuring pcAnywhere in a way that minimizes potential risks.

At this time, Symantec recommends disabling the product until Symantec releases a final set of software updates that resolve currently known vulnerability risks. For customers that require pcAnywhere for business critical purposes, it is recommended that customers understand the current risks, ensure pcAnywhere 12.5 is installed, apply all relevant patches as they are released, and follow the general security best practices discussed herein.

On Thursday, Symantec released updates to address at least three security vulnerabilities in pcAnywhere 12.5 for Windows. The company said it plans to issue additional updates for pcAnywhere 12.0, pcAnywhere 12.1 and pcAnywhere 12.5, although it didn’t say precisely when those updates would be available.

It’s generally a bad idea to leave remote administration tools like pcAnywhere always on and always accessible via the Internet. If you must use them, I’d strongly recommend limiting allowable connections to specific computer names or Internet addresses, limiting the number of consecutive logon attempts, and — if feasible– incorporating some type of token based solution.

Adobe and Microsoft today each issued software fixes to tackle dangerous security flaws in their  products. If you use Acrobat, Adobe Reader or Windows, it’s time to patch.

Microsoft released seven security bulletins addressing at least eight vulnerabilities in Windows. The lone “critical” Microsoft patch addresses a pair of bugs in Windows Media Player. Microsoft warns that attackers could exploit these flaws to break into Windows systems without any help from users; the vulnerability could be triggered just by browsing to a site that hosts specially crafted video content.

The other Windows patches earned a less severe “important” rating from Microsoft, although not everyone agrees with that assessment. Symantec’s Joshua Talbot said another bug fixed today — a glitch in the way Windows handles Microsoft Office files — is potentially more dangerous because it appears to be easier to exploit than the Media Player flaw.

“The vulnerability is due to an oversight that allows an attacker to run malware as soon as a user opens a Word or PowerPoint file,” Talbot said. “Email attachments will probably be the most common attack method in which this vulnerability is exploited. As usual, we strongly recommend users only open email attachments from people they know.”

More information on the other patches Microsoft released today is available here.

I want to call attention to a security issue that Microsoft addressed over the holiday break that I neglected to write about earlier, but which deserves equal attention and patching. On Dec. 29, Microsoft issued an out-of-band update to address a flaw in ASP.Net that could allow an attacker to force a user to visit a malicious web site. The vulnerability affects all versions of the .NET Framework on Windows XP and later versions of Windows. If you use Windows and see a .NET Framework patch awaiting your approval in Windows Update this month, don’t neglect it.

In a separate release, Adobe pushed out security updates for Adobe Reader and Acrobat. At the forefront of the Adobe patch batch is a fix for a zero-day flaw in Acrobat and Reader that Adobe first warned about in early December. Shortly after that warning, Adobe issued a fix for the flaw in Reader 9.x and Acrobat 9.x, but said it would wait until today (its scheduled, quarterly update) to address it in the new Reader X and Acrobat X versions of the software. Adobe recommends that users of Adobe Reader X (10.1.1) and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Reader X (10.1.2). Updates are available for Windows and Mac versions of these titles; see the Adobe advisory for the patch download links.

As ever, if you experience any problems as a result of installing these updates, please drop a note in the comments below.

Microsoft today issued software updates to patch at least 19 security holes in Windows, including three flaws that earned the company’s most serious “critical” rating. Separately, Oracle released a security update that fixes several issues in its Java software.

The most talked-about vulnerability fixed in December’s patch batch is a critical flaw in all supported versions of Windows that’s been exploited for at least the past two months (and probably much longer) by the Duqu Trojan, a sophisticated information-stealer that experts say was an espionage tool constructed to extract sensitive data from industrial control systems.

The other two critical updates fix bugs in ActiveX and Windows Media Player. The remaining patches address less severe but still dangerous security holes in Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Publisher. A more detailed breakdown of this month’s updates is available here. Patches are available via Windows Update.

In other patch news, Oracle has released yet another update to its Java software. Oracle released updates to Java versions 6 and 7, but only the Java 6 Update 30 includes security fixes. It appears from a close examination of Oracle’s unbelievably labyrinthine security advisories that Update 30 addresses at least six separate security issues. Anyone who wants to read more about the specific details of the flaws fixed in this update without having wade through countless advisories can do so by clicking this link. While none of the flaws look especially bad, if you are using Java it’s time to either update it or dump it (I continually urge readers to do the latter). Updates are available from the Java console (available through the Windows Control Panel).

An exploit for a recently disclosed Java vulnerability that was previously only available for purchase in the criminal underground has now been rolled into the open source Metasploit exploit framework. Metasploit researchers say the Java attack tool has been tested to successfully deliver payloads on a variety of platforms, including the latest Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

On Monday, I disclosed how the Java exploit is being sold on cybercrime forums and incorporated into automated crimeware kits like BlackHole. Since then, security researchers @_sinn3r and Juan Vasquez have developed a module for Metasploit that makes the attack tool available to penetration testers and malicious hackers alike. According to a post on the Metasploit blog today, the Java vulnerability “is particularly pernicious, as it is cross-platform, unpatched on some systems, and is an easy-to-exploit client-side that does little to make the user aware they’re being exploited.”

Metasploit also posted the results of testing the exploit against a variety of browsers and platforms, and found that it worked almost seamlessly to compromise systems across the board, from the latest 64-bit Windows 7 machines to Mac OS X and even Linux systems.

This development should not be taken lightly by any computer user. According to Sun’s maker Oracle, more than three billion devices run Java. What’s more, Java vulnerabilities are by some accounts the most popular exploit paths for computer crooks these days. On Monday, Microsoft’s Tim Rains published a blog post noting that the most commonly observed type of exploits in the first half of 2011 were those targeting vulnerabilities in Oracle (formerly Sun Microsystems) Java Runtime Environment (JRE), Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and Java SE in the Java Development Kit (JDK).

From that blog post:

“During the one year period starting in the third quarter of 2010 (3Q10) and ending in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), between one-third and one-half of all exploits observed in each quarter were Java exploits[1]. During this one year period, Microsoft antimalware technologies detected or blocked, on average, 6.9 million exploit attempts on Java related components per quarter, totaling almost 27.5 million exploit attempts during the year.”

The exploit attacks a vulnerability that exists in Oracle Java SE JDK and JRE 7 and 6 Update 27 and earlier. If you are using Java 6 Update 29, or Java 7 Update 1, then you have the latest version that is patched against this and 19 other security threats. If you are using a vulnerable version of Java, it’s time to update. Not sure whether you have Java or what version you may be running? Check out this link, and then click the “Do I have Java?” link below the big red “Free Java Download” button. Apple issued its own update to fix this flaw and other Java bugs earlier this month.

According to my server logs, close to 80 percent of the readers of this blog in the last month have some version of Java installed, although my stats don’t list version numbers. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll repeat my advice from earlier this week: If you don’t need Java, get rid of it. Most people who have it won’t miss it. For those who need Java for the occasional site or service, disconnecting it from the browser plugins and temporarily reconnecting when needed is one way to minimize issues with this powerful program. Leaving the Java plugin installed in a secondary browser that is only used for sites or services that require Java is another alternative.

A new exploit that takes advantage of a recently-patched critical security flaw in Java is making the rounds in the criminal underground. The exploit, which appears to work against all but the latest versions of Java, is being slowly folded into automated attack tools.

The exploit attacks a vulnerability that exists in Oracle Java SE JDK and JRE 7 and 6 Update 27 and earlier. If you are using Java 6 Update 29, or Java 7 Update 1, then you have the latest version that is patched against this and 19 other security threats. If you are using a vulnerable version of Java, it’s time to update. Not sure whether you have Java or what version you may be running? Check out this link, and then click the “Do I have Java?” link below the big red “Free Java Download” button.

A few weeks back, researcher Michael ‘mihi’ Schierl outlined how one might exploit this particular Java flaw. Over the weekend, I stumbled on a discussion in an exclusive cybercrime forum about an exploit that appears to have been weaponized along the same lines as described by Schierl. Below is a recording of a video posted by one of the members that shows the attack in action.

Java exploits are notoriously successful when bundled into commercial exploit packs, software kits that can turn a hacked Web site into a virtual minefield for Web users who aren’t keeping up to date with the latest security patches.  Users would need only to browse to a booby-trapped site with a version of Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer that is running anything older than the latest Java package, and the site could silently install malware (according to a miscreant selling access to the exploit, it does not run reliably against Google Chrome for some reason).

Because Java is cross-platform, this attack could theoretically be used to infiltrate non-Windows systems, such as computers running Mac OS X (Apple issued its own update to fix this flaw and other Java bugs earlier this month). For now, though, I’ve only heard about it being used to target Windows PCs: It is slowly being incorporated into the BlackHole exploit kit, one of the most widely-deployed exploit packs on the market today.

Reached via instant message, the hacker principally responsible for maintaining and selling BlackHole said the new Java exploit was being rolled out for free to existing license holders. For all others, the exploit can be had for a $4,000 price tag, in addition to the cost of a BlackHole license, which goes for $700 for three months, $1,000 for six months, or $1,500 per year. The author of BlackHole also sells his own hosted solution, in which customers can rent bulletproof servers with pre-installed copies of his kit for $200 a week, or $500 per month.

I stand by my advice urging those who don’t need Java to junk it; most people who have it won’t miss it. For those who need Java for the occasional site or service, disconnecting it from the browser plugins and temporarily reconnecting when needed is one way to minimize issues with this powerful program. Leaving the Java plugin installed in a secondary browser that is only used for sites or services that require Java is another alternative.

Adobe has issued a critical software update for its Flash Player software that fixes at least a dozen security vulnerabilities in the widely-used program. Updates are available for Windows, Mac, Linux,  Solaris and Android versions of Flash and Adobe Air.

The update fixes flaws present in Flash Player versions 11.0.1.152 and earlier for Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris systems, and in Flash 11.0.1.153 and earlier for Android. The vulnerabilities are rated critical, meaning they could give hacked or malicious Web sites an easy way to install software on your machine.

Adobe’s advisory says users of Flash version 11.0.1.152 and earlier should update to v. 11.1.102.55; those using Flash v. 11.0.1.153 and earlier versions for Android should update to Flash Player 11.1.102.59. Users of AIR 3.0 for Windows, Macintosh, and Android should update to AIR  v. 3.1.0.4880. The company says it is not aware of any active attacks against these flaws at this time.

To find out if you have Flash and which version may be installed, visit the About Flash page. Windows users who browse the Web with Internet Explorer and another browser may need to apply the Flash update twice, once using IE and again with the other browser (Google Chrome users should already have the latest version of Flash). Again, check the About Flash page with each browser you use to see whether you need to apply this update. To avoid using Adobe’s Download Manager, which tends to add little “extras” if you’re not careful, IE users can grab the latest update directly from these links; 32-bit IE installer, and 64-bit IE installer. Firefox and Opera users can grab the 32-bit installer here and the 64-bit version here. If you don’t know which one you need, just let Adobe’s site choose for you (although the download manager may try to foist other software unless you uncheck pre-checked options).

The installer for the latest Adobe Air version is available from this link.

Some Flash components also are bundled with Adobe Reader, so I asked Adobe whether current versions of Reader also were exposed to these vulnerabilities. Adobe spokeswoman Wiebke Lips confirmed that some of the issues fixed in today’s Flash Player update do impact the Authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.x) and 9.x for Windows and Mac. Lips said Adobe feels comfortable that its sandboxing technology built into the latest versions of Reader will protect users until January, when the company expects to issue the next quarterly update for Reader.

“These issues will be resolved in the next quarterly security update for Adobe Reader and Acrobat, currently scheduled for January 10, 2012,” Lips wrote. “Note that the Authplay.dll component is part of the ‘sandbox’ for users of Adobe Reader X (Protected Mode) and Acrobat X (Protected View), which would protect against potential exploits.”

Update: 11:34 p.m. ET: Updated the download links.

Adobe, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla all released updates on Tuesday to fix critical security flaws in their products. Adobe issued a patch that corrects four vulnerabilities in Shockwave Player, while Redmond pushed updates to address four Windows flaws. Apple slipped out an update that mends at least 17 security holes in its version of Java, and Mozilla issued yet another major Firefox release, Firefox 8.

The only “critical” patch from Microsoft this month is a dangerous Windows flaw that could be triggered remotely to install malicious software just by sending the target system specially crafted packets of data. Microsoft says this vulnerability may be difficult to reliably exploit, but it should be patched immediately. Information on the other three flaws fixed this week is here. The fixes are available via Windows Updates for most supported versions of the operating system, including XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Adobe’s Shockwave update also fixes critical flaws, but users should check to see if they have this program installed before trying to update it. To test whether you have Shockwave installed, visit this page; if you see an animation, it’s time to update. If you see a prompt to install Shockwave, there is no need to install it. Mozilla Firefox users without Shockwave Player installed may still see “Shockwave Flash” listed in the “Plugins” directory of the browser; this merely indicates that the user has Adobe’s Flash Player installed.

The vulnerabilities fixed by this update exist in versions of Shockwave 11.6.1.629 and earlier. The latest version, v. 11.6.3.633, is available here.  As I noted earlier this year, I haven’t had Shockwave on my system for some time now and don’t seem to have missed it. I’m sure it has its uses, but to me Shockwave is just another Adobe program that requires constant care and feeding. What’s more, like Adobe’s Flash Player, Shockwave demands two separate installation procedures for IE and non-IE browsers.

Hat tip to the SANS Internet Storm Center for the heads up on the Java fix from Apple. This update, available via Software Update or Apple Downloads, essentially brings Snow Leopard and Lion up to date with the Oracle patches released last month in Java 6 Update 29 (Apple maintains its own version of Java).

If you use Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird, you may have noticed that Mozilla is pushing out another major upgrade that includes critical fixes to these programs; both have now been updated to version 8. If you’re still running Firefox version 3.6.x, Mozilla has updated that to 3.6.24 (if anyone can help decipher Mozilla’s timeline for exactly how long it will continue to support this workhorse version of Firefox, please drop a line in the comments below). Perhaps I’m becoming a curmudgeon, but I’m growing weary of the incessant update prompts from Firefox. It seems that almost every time I start it up it’s asking to restart the browser or to remove plugins that no longer work with the latest version. I’ve been gradually transitioning more of my work over to Google Chrome, which seems faster and updates the browser and any installed plugins silently (and frequently patches oft-targeted plugins like Flash Player even before Adobe officially releases the update).

Oracle Corp. released a critical update to plug at least 20 security holes in versions of its ubiquitous Java software. Nearly all of the Java vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely to compromise vulnerable systems with little or no help from users.

If you use Java, take some time to update the program now. According to a report released this month by Microsoft, the most commonly observed exploits in the first half of 2011 were those targeting Java flaws. The report also notes that Java exploits were responsible for between one-third and one-half of all exploits observed in each of the four most recent quarters.

Methods for exploiting one of the flaws fixed by this update were detailed at a recent security conference in Buenos Aires, where researchers demonstrated a method for intercepting encrypted SSL and TLS traffic.

Don’t know if you have Java? Check out this link, and then click the “Do I have Java?” link below the big red “Free Java Download” button. A majority of folks who have Java installed will have some update of Java 6; this latest patch brings Java 6 to Update 29. Java also has released a major revision to Java 7 (the vulnerabilities fixed in Java 6 Update 29 are available in Java 7 Update 1). It’s not clear whether Java 7 is more for regular users or for developers at this point, because the Free Java Download link at java.com still takes users to Version 6 Update 29.

Microsoft Windows users can update Java from the Java icon in the Windows Control Panel, and then clicking the “Update Now” button on the Update tab.

I’ve urged readers who have no use for Java to get rid of the program, but there is another way to keep it around while reducing the likelihood that the software will be targeted by malicious Web sites: unplug it from the browser. In Mozilla, Java can be toggled on or off via the plugins menu of the Add-ons page. In Internet Explorer, Java can be disabled via the “Manage Add-ons” option.

Finally, Windows users may find more than one Java version in the Add/Remove Programs list in the Control Panel. Older Java 6 versions can be safely removed after updating. The updater in Java 6 was long ago tweaked to remove older versions of Java before installing an update, but if you’ve already upgraded to Java 7, be aware that it does not remove Java 6 versions.

Microsoft and Apple today released security updates to fix a slew of critical security problems in their software. Microsoft’s patch batch fixes at least 23 vulnerabilities in Windows and other Microsoft products. Apple’s update addresses more than 75 security flaws in the Windows versions of iTunes.

Nine of the 23 flaws Microsoft fixed with patches today are rated “critical,” meaning attackers could exploit them to break into vulnerable systems with little or no help from users. Eight of the nine critical bugs are in Internet Explorer. The remaining critical flaw is corrected in an update for the .NET Framework. Three of the vulnerabilities fixed with these updates were disclosed publicly prior to today, including a flaw in Windows Media Center that Microsoft believes crooks are likely to soon figure out how to reliably exploit.

The iTunes update brings the music player software to version 10.5, and is available for Microsoft systems running Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2 and later. Two new features of iTunes deserve mentioning: Apple says iPhone and iPad users who upgrade to iOS 5 when it is released later this week will be able to sync with iTunes wirelessly. More importantly from an update perspective, Apple has at long last untethered iTunes from QuickTime.

Users can download the update by opening iTunes; if you’re not directed to download iTunes 10.5 when you start the program, click “Help,” and then “Check for Updates.” Some OS X users may be wondering how many of these flaws exist in the Mac version of iTunes. According to the SANS Internet Storm Center, Mac users can expect some of these problems to be fixed in Security Update 2011-006 and in OS X Lion v. 10.7.2. For the time being, however, neither of those updates appear to have been released.

The latest Windows patches are available through Windows Update or via Automatic Update. As always, please drop a note in the comments section if you experience any problems during or after the installation of these patches.