Security changes in Flash Player 8
In Macromedia Flash Player 8, Macromedia has extended the Flash Player security environment to provide special permissions for files loaded from the local file system or LAN connections, such as //server1. In some instances, content that worked in Flash Player 7 may be interrupted by a prompt for a user to "trust" the file. Until trust is provided, the content may not function correctly if it attempts to communicate with the network or another file (SWF, HTML, etc) that is able to communicate with the network. When this occurs, the Flash Player will inform the user of the need to "trust" the file with the following dialog box:
To learn more about this message please see How do I let local Flash content communicate with the Internet? (TechNote 4c093f20).
Developers
Author/Developers may be able to modify their content so that users don't need to take any action. If your content does not access any local files, it can be modified to interact with the network only. This can be done using the standalone tool provided, called the Local Content Updater or by using Macromedia Flash 8 to publish your SWF using the "Allow local file to access the network" setting.
If your content must access both the local file system and the network, the user must indicate that they trust the file. This can either be done interactively through the settings manager, or by installing a trust file. For existing content, the simplest approach will probably be to indicate that users should use the settings manager to make a file (or directory) trusted. For new content, an author might consider installing a trust file at the time when the content is installed locally-that way the user is not required to take any action. For the complete description of how to "trust" content or the Local File Security please see, Security Changes in Flash Player 8
Note: The trust file installation requires the ability to execute an installer and/or write to a file on the local file system, so the user has implicitly trusted the installer.
A much more detailed description of these changes is provided in the security architecture document for Flash Player 8 (PDF, 888k). This document details the sandbox security model and the controls that are available to Developers, Users, and Administrative Users to configure the security permissions for SWF files.
You can also find additional security updates by visiting Macromedia Flash Player Security and Privacy.
Additional information on the Flash Player 8 local security is available in the Flash documentation under "Understanding Security".
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