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Mozilla Firefox plugin check will make the web a safer place From the 'Simple Ideas That Will Change The World' files:The risks associated with running outdated and insecure plugins are not trivial. Simply put, if a user is running an old version of a plugin for which an exploit is available, they're at risk -- even if they've got an updated browser, operating system and (for Windows users) anti-virus software. Now Mozilla has a solution to the problem that I personally think is so simple, yet effective, it will change the web security landscape for tens of millions of Firefox users. Mozilla has already provided users with a check in Firefox 3.5.x for Adobe's Flash plugin, but they've recognized it's not enough and have expanded the effort. With its new Plugin Check site, Mozilla will check 15 popular plugins on a users Firefox browser to ensure they are up-to-date. Yeaah it sounds simple, but in my own little test case today I found out how amazingly effective it is. On a test Windows XP SP3 box that is in my environment, I ran the plugin check and much to my surprise, found that a number of plugins were out of date.  No I don't use the machine every day, but I had expected that it would have been more up-to-date (left: screenshot of the Windows test ).On a test Ubuntu Karmic Koala test box which I do run every day and should have been up to date, the plugin check also found one out-of-date plugin. That shouldn't have happened (but it did), so I'm thrilled that Mozilla found it. One small issue I found on Windows was that the plugin checker tried to validate multiple versions of Java that were installed, but that's likely just a corner case. There are also issues with version detection for a number of plugins. My own experiences aside, according to Mozilla's David Tenser 30 percent of reported Firefox crashes are caused by plugins. "By increasing the number of users running updated plugins, the number of reported problems on SUMO (Support Mozilla) should drop significantly," Tenser blogged. "Also, giving users access to a page that allows them to take control of their security is a good example of how important web safety is for Mozilla. This Plugin Check page is just the first step in making it easier to keep your plugins safe. Future versions of Firefox will have this functionality built in, eventually making the experience as seamless as keeping Firefox itself up to date."This is just a plugin check for Firefox at this point (on Windows and Linux at least), which still leaves all the Microsoft Internet Explorer users out in the cold on this. I personally hope that Mozilla's leadership on this plugin issue will find followers at the other browser vendors. This is an important issue for web security and stability and if my own test case experiences are any indication, it's a problem that can easily creep up - and now be resolved. 0 TrackBacksListed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Mozilla Firefox plugin check will make the web a safer place. TrackBack URL for this entry: https://swarm.jupitermedia.com/mt-tb.cgi/9095 3 CommentsLeave a comment |
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The Mozilla plugin check site needs improvement.
Apart from the problems you found, all it does is a basic plugin version check. It doesn't check to see if the plugin update is suitable for your version of Firefox or your operating system. This could cause lots of problems for people not running the latest software.
For example, if you are running Firefox 2 or Windows 98, the reason you haven't updated your plugins is because you can't! So this site telling you to try and update will just cause trouble for these users.
I tried it, & it worked for me - however it should probably ( and may already) check your version first & strongly advise you to upgrade before a plugin check. It might be a bit much to expect every permutation to be detected correctly though.
P.S. If you're on Win98 - get off the net for all our sakes! , but seriously, if you know anyone using it - tell them to switch to Win2k at least- or better yet - Linux! Please!
Haven't you noticed that all the latest viruses and rootkits don't work on Win98?
Nobody writes attacks on Win98 pcs nowadays. The attack population is small and nothing worth attacking is still running on Win98.
So long as you have a firewall and antivirus you are probably safer on Win98! :)
(But I mostly use Linux anyway).