Firefox just blocked the Flash plugin from its browsers. You should, too.

Firefox developer Mozilla has disabled the Flash plugin in all its browsers.

It’s about time.

In case you were born in the last decade, Flash is one of the oldest multimedia plugins still in use on the web. Unlike other big names of the 1996 web – like say, CompuServe – the internet just can’t seem to rid itself of Flash.

Mozilla’s decision comes after it was revealed the Adobe product had several severe security flaws  being hoarded by computer security company Hacking Team. This shouldn’t surprise anyone: Flash has been the subject of security vulnerabilities over and over and over and over.

Do you really need another reason to disable Flash, beyond the fact that it makes it easier for people to steal information from your computer? Because I’ve got more.

It’s slow. It’s a bandwidth hog. It does not work on smartphones at all. It kills laptop batteries. It prevents information from being indexed by search engines. It was used to create this.

So, if you’re a Firefox user, you’re already done with Flash, at least until Adobe releases an updated version of the plugin. But what about other browsers?

I use Google Chrome, which actually has Flash built-in. There’s a way to disable it in the settings, or you can download the Flashcontrol plugin in the Chrome Web Store.

If you use Internet Explorer or Safari, click on the links for instructions to rid yourself of Flash. I’m not even going to judge your browser choices just now. Let’s work on one problem at a time.