Although Apple has gotten grief for being slow to issue patches for security vulnerabilities, the biggest problem facing users is their near steadfast refusal to install the available updates. With Safari 5.1.7, Apple’s taking a proactive approach by disabling old versions of the Flash plugin, a major source security issues.

Out-of-date versions of Adobe Flash Player do not include the latest security updates and will be disabled to help keep your Mac secure. If Safari 5.1.7 detects an out-of-date version of Flash Player on your system, you will see a dialog informing you that Flash Player has been disabled. The dialog provides the option to go directly to Adobe’s website, where you can download and install an updated version of Flash Player — Knowledge Base Article HT5271.

The release of Safari 5.1.7 (download) marks a further step by Apple to deprecate Adobe Flash, which has been a major and continuing source of security vulnerabilities on the Mac.

• Improve the browser’s responsiveness when the system is low on memory
• Fix an issue that could prevent webpages from responding after using a pinch to zoom gesture
• Fix an issue that could affect websites using forms to authenticate users
• Disable versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provide the option to get the current version from Adobe’s website.

Flotsam AND jetsam

Apple has also released Security Update 2012-002 (Snow Leopard), about which no specific details were published as of press time, and Apple Remote Desktop 3.5.3 Client, which comes to market with the usual changes that affect “overall reliability, usability and compatibility.”

For OS X Lion users, the just released OS X 10.7.4, which addresses the FileVault password issue and other problems, includes Safari 5.1.6 — after running the OS X update users will be prompted by Software Update to install Safari 5.1.7 — go figure.

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