Adobe Systems warned on Monday that hackers are exploiting vulnerabilities in its Flash multimedia software platform in web browsers, and the company urged users to quickly patch their systems with the latest release to prevent such attacks.
The warning came after cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab said a group it was tracking, BlackOasis, used the previously unknown weakness on Oct. 10 to plant malicious software on computers before connecting them back to servers in Switzerland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
Kaspersky said the malware, known as FinSpy or FinFisher, is a commercial product typically sold to nation states and law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance.
Kaspersky said victims have so far been observed in Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, Iran and elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.
Adobe said it had released a Flash security update to fix the problem, which affected Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Edge and Internet Explorer browsers as well as desktop versions.
Adobe said in July that by the end of 2020 it would retire the Flash technology used to power most of the media content found online.