Dangerous malware targeting Adobe Flash for Windows, Macs, and Chrome OS

Techniques used by cybercriminals to rip us off are constantly changing.

That’s why it’s so important to stay up to date on the latest attacks. It’s much easier to avoid falling victim to them when you know what to watch for.

Now, a severe vulnerability in Adobe Flash is being exploited by cybercriminals and it could end up costing you big time.

How cybercriminals are exploiting Adobe Flash

What’s happening is, unsuspecting victims are receiving phishing emails that contain malicious Word documents and no one is safe. Users running Windows 10, macOS, Linux and Chrome OS systems are all being targeted.

If you click on the Word doc, you will see a message that says “Online preview is not available. Please enable editing mode to view this document.” It looks something like this:

Image: Example of malicious Word document being spread through phishing emails. (Source: Morphisec)

Warning! If you enable editing mode, hackers could take total control of your gadget.

Typically when a scammer sends a malicious Microsoft Office document, they rely on the recipient to enable Macros. Enabling Macros allows the malicious document to infect the victim’s gadget with malware.

In the attack circulating now, the installed malware exploits a bug recently found in Adobe Flash Player. If you fall for this elaborate phishing scam, the attackers could wind up taking control of your gadget and use stolen data to rip you off.