Firefox Update Plugs Security Holes

[rodeodance]

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/

Brian Krebs on Computer Security

Posted at 10:46 AM ET, 05/12/2005

Firefox Update Plugs Security Holes

Mozilla has issued an update that fixes some design and security flaws in its Firefox Web browser. The new update is version 1.0.4, and fixes six separate security issues in the browser software.

To download the update, you have a few options: Download and install it manually, or use Firefox's updater tool, by clicking on "Tools" in the menu at the top of the browser window, then "options," then the "Advanced" tab. Scroll down to the section that says "software update" (and make sure there's a check mark next to both "extensions" and "firefox"). Then hit the button that says "check now" and it should find the update for you.

Alternatively, if you see a little red arrow in the upper right hand corner of your screen, click on that and it will prompt you to download the update......

[Straight Shooter]

1. Thanks for the update, and the clear instructions.

:thumbsup:

[merh]

2. Thanks for the update on the update!

:hi:

[Dudley_DUright]

3. Done

and thanks for the update update.

[Nomad559]

4. Firefox's security coming under scrutiny

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11155

Mozilla developers say that the browser had security built into the design, but that has not stopped flaw finders from pinpointing problems with Firefox.

The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox Web browser has made security a major part of its marketing, but a spate of vulnerabilities found over the last nine months had sullied that message.

For the last six months of 2004, researchers found more vulnerabilities in Mozilla's Firefox than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to Symantec's bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report. The report tallied 21 vulnerabilities for Mozilla Firefox versus 13 for Internet Explorer. However, a smaller percentage of the vulnerabilities found in Firefox were considered a severe security threat, said Symantec's Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager with the company's security response team.

[bpilgrim]

6. version 1 of the software is bound to have flaws...

it will only get better and better as the open-source community has a strong track record of responding very rapidly to bugs.

now i wonder if they were counting all the flaws since IE's release or just since the last patch :shrug:

peace

[Massacure]

10. Mozilla is new and open source though.

New software tends to be buggy. Being open source though, everybody is able to look for flaws. Thats why Firefox has an advantage over Internet Explorer. Anyone can fix a hole and send the new version to the development team to distribute. The development team isn't tied up themselves.

[Gunit_Sangh]

5. Upgrade changed my homepage

I don't know if this will happen to anyone else but the upgrade changed my homepage to a page at firefox. I had to go into Tools, Options, General to change it back.

[steely]

7. Thanks.

We were just talking about this in work today.

[Ian David]

8. I love Firefox and don't know how I ever lived without it

It's worth it alone for the BugMeNot, TinyURL, BBCodeXTRA, and Adblock extensions.

And it made no sense at first, but I have come to love tabbed browsing.

It's a fantastic program and I can't recommend it strongly enough.

[Prisonerohio]

9. I am surprised how quickly the media move in on Firefox so quickly for

security holes. Security holes that where fixed quite quickly and where never exploited. IE on the other hand has more holes than the Titanic and still has not seen an upgrade. This is just another folly in corporate America's war on the open source movement.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. A folly like this one?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3237240&mesg_id=3237240