What led the tech industry to eliminate Adobe Flash?

Initially developed in 1996, Adobe Flash Player was a program designed for accessing multimedia content on the internet, including videos and online games. Flash Player could operate from a basic web browser or be used as a browser plug-in on a site.

In 2017, Adobe declared that it would cease support for Adobe Flash Player. This will take effect in 2020. To safeguard users, the software started to alert them to remove the program, and Adobe eliminated all links for downloading Flash installers. All major web browsers, including Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge, subsequently announced their decision to officially eliminate Adobe Flash Player from all sites starting in January 2021.

 Brief History

Flash needed a significant amount of access to many resources that you preferred not to grant in today's secure environment. Just like DOS allowed users to do whatever they wanted with the machine in the past, everyone was an "administrator" and could ruin their computer. Flash protocols were not solely for creating shapes and animations or (later) showing films... they functioned as complete systems within the larger framework, and plugins allowed these systems to communicate through your browser while bypassing numerous security restrictions (which were not in place at that time, and were added as the necessity arose). The same reason caused the decline of Java in web browsers. Java needed a plugin, a compatible browser, filesystem access through the browser, and so on. Consequently, it disappeared. JavaScript (quite distinct) lacks that feature and thrives in your browser.

Security is seldom simply a matter of "merely filling this gap in the dam." It often centers on the idea that "this dyke is intentionally made vulnerable to all threats; in fact, it's less expensive to demolish it entirely, reconstruct it, and improve it than to keep repairing it."

Netscape plugins were not "reimagined". They passed away.

ActiveX was not re-imagined, repaired, or updated. It has ceased to function. (Interesting tidbit: "Windows Update" was once an ActiveX control in your web browser that possessed complete authority to actually enhance every component of your Windows device).

Flash, Java, "toolbars in your browser," etc., all ceased to exist because their design made it impossible to secure them adequately, and they inherently permitted actions that were risky.

They were substituted (and occasionally 3, 4, or even more times since we still made mistakes!) with items that essentially prevented you from doing those things. Your websites can no longer access your complete file system. Java and Flash made that possible! Your websites are no longer able to simply activate your cameras and capture your video. Browser permissions were implemented to prevent that, and the USER / BROWSER manages them, not the websites.

Java allows you to operate network servers within the browser and communicate over individuals' internal networks. You are no longer able to do that.

ActiveX was essentially a Windows application operating in your browser that communicated with websites and was fundamentally insecure. (However, Microsoft also created WMF graphics files, which were later found to be standard executable programs that could be altered into viruses). And each of them, at one point or another, attempted to "fix the imperfections" and protect them. And ended up failing terribly, since the sole method to ensure security was to halt functionalities that individuals were already dependent on, which would essentially "break" Java, etc. Consequently, they continued to patch it until one day the browser developers essentially declared it over, as they faced backlash for users exposing significant vulnerabilities in corporate networks with this garbage.

And what about when you're operating in a truly secure setting? It appears that you CANNOT run Flash, CANNOT run Java applications, can't utilize ActiveX, and many creations based on them simply cease to function.

In the end, browser-based Java had a control panel icon(!) solely for setting up Java's security since the browsers couldn't manage it, and everything occurred on the local machine. It's similar to needing a Windows Settings app these days to protect your streaming video, as firewalls and browsers allow it to operate freely. That all came to an end when browsers implemented security measures, and frankly, nothing important was missed. Individuals eventually embraced the idea, organized their tasks, and created appealing animations in your browser through secure methods that didn't necessitate full administrative rights over your computer.