Free Firefox browser resists spyware
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Web surfing has belonged almost exclusively to Microsoft Corp.&#39;s Internet Explorer ever since it buried Netscape&#39;s pioneering browser.
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TechWeb - Microsoft bought anti-spyware technology to protect its Internet Explorer browser from surging rivals like Mozilla's Firefox
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Mozilla has released alpha 8 of its Firefox 3.0 Web browser, unveiling for the first time to users several security features it's talked up for months.
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Mozilla Foundation&#39;s Firefox browser will be available for free download today after 19 months of development, news.com reports.
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(InfoWorld) - Mozilla updated the preview of Firefox 3.0 to alpha 8 Thursday, unveiling for the first time to users several security features it has talked up for months. Among the security provisions debuting in the new alpha of "Gran Paradiso," the code name for Firefox 3.0, are built-in anti-malware warnings and protection against rogue extension updates, according to documentation Mozilla posted to its Web site. The malware blocker, which was first mocked up in June, will block Web sites thought to contain malicious downloads. The feature, a companion to the phishing site alert system in the current Firefox 2.0, will use information provided by Google to flag potentially-dangerous sites, warn anyone trying to reach those URLs with Firefox, and automatically block access to the site. Mozilla also pointed to a URL that demonstrates the new malware blocker for alpha 8 users. Also taking a bow is a check meant to prevent plug-ins' automatic updates from sending users to malicious sites where they might be infected by attack code or drive-by downloads. Firefox relies on small plug-ins -- called "extensions" in the Mozilla vernacular -- for much of its power and flexibility. Several thousand extensions have been written, the vast bulk of them by outside developers, that do everything from boost browsing speed to block irritating Flash animations. Firefox regularly checks to see if the installed extensions are up to date, and, if not, automatically pulls in the newest version and installs it. "Firefox automatically checks for updates to add-ons using a URL specified in the add-on's install manifest," Mozilla spells out in a developer's document. "Currently there are no requirements placed on these URLs. In particular, [they are not] required to be https. This allows either the update manifest or the update package to be compromised, potentially resulting in the injection of malicious updates. A demonstration of one form of compromise is already public." Most extensions are hosted on Mozilla's own servers -- at the servers feeding its Add-ons site -- but some are not; it's those off-site extensions that Mozilla wants to lock down. To stymie attacks through a compromised extension update, Mozilla will require updates -- both the actual update package and the much smaller "manifest," or notification of an update -- to be delivered over an SSL-secured connection. Or the update must be digitally signed. The change doesn't affect the initial installation of an extension, something Mozilla recognized. "[This] has no impact on the security of initial add-on installs," it told developers in the online guide. This newest preview, which can be downloaded in versions for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux from the Mozilla site, still comes with a warning to end-users. "Alpha 8 is intended for Web application developers and our testing community. Current users of Mozilla Firefox should not use Gran Paradiso Alpha 8," the browser's release notes. Mozilla has not officially committed to a release date for the final version of Firefox 3.0. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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Opera Browser - Firefox Not the Only IE Alternative  Security flaws have long plagued Internet Explorer (IE), the market-dominating web browser from Microsoft. IE won the early browser wars, not only because it was free and bundled with Windows, but because it had some features and capabilities that its only real ...
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Much like Linux, the Firefox browser has become an open-source phenomenon. More than five million people have downloaded the preview version of the free product -- developed by the non-profit
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AdBlock tryst threatens web browser wedlock Comment Yes, Firefox reached a major milestone this week, surpassing 400 million downloads worldwide. But that's just the good news. There's another story swirling around the famously open source web browser - and it's a little less sunny.â¦
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Update to free browser will warn people if a Web site looks like a phishing scam, its maker says.
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A free web browser that promises users total  privacy whilst surfing on the web has been released.
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Floor by flaw The latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows and (in the case of Firefox) Unix systems are vulnerable to attacks that could reveal the contents of sensitive files residing on a victim's hard drives.â¦
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Firefox, the alternative Web browser from the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, is chipping away at Microsoft Internet Explorer&#39;s stranglehold on the market.
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Amazon.com subsidiary A9.com on Monday released a version of its Internet toolbar for the Firefox Web browser. A9 said that the toolbar, which is available for free download, will offer the same features to
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Windows users could soon be paying for Microsoft software that keeps their machine free of spyware.
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More than six million people have downloaded Firefox, the open-source descendant of the Netscape browser killed off by Internet Explorer in a battle that figured large in the US anti-trust case against Microsoft.
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Microsoft gives away a security firewall with its latest operating system. Many high-speed Internet service providers offer free anti-virus protection for subscribers. And several Web sites distribute free toolbars to warn of Web scams.
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If you have spyware installed on your computer system and you update your operating system with the latest Windows XP Service pack 2 (SP2) update, your computer could possibly freeze.