Adobe issues urgent Flash patch to prevent hacking attacks

China-based advanced persistent threat spotted using the Flash flaw, which has now entered malware kit Magnitude

Users are being urged to update to the latest version of Flash after a security flaw fixed less than a week ago was discovered being exploited in the wild.

The bug, which affects how Flash Player plays video files, lets an attacker use a carefully made video file to seize control of a user's computer. It was made public last week by security research firm Fireeye, who discovered the flaw and reported it to Adobe. The publisher has now made a patch available, which can be downloaded using the auto-updater included with Flash.