February 12th, 2008
Firefox 3 Beta 3 steps up its security game
Mozilla launched the third beta of its Firefox 3 browser Tuesday night with enhanced security features.
Firefox 3 Beta 3 contains more than 1,300 changes from the second beta to improve performance. Meanwhile, Mozilla improved some of the security features in Firefox 3 Beta 3. Among the notable items detailed in Mozilla’s release notes:
- Improved one-click site information: Mozilla says you can click on a site’s favicon in the location bar to wee who owns the site and whether the connection is secure. Identity verification is also easer to use.
- Malware protection: Firefox 3 Beta 3 includes malware protection that warns users when they get to sites that are known to deliver malicious payloads.
- Add-on updates. Firefox will disable add-ons that update in an “insecure manor.” This feature could cut down on some of the flat file vulnerability issues of late.
- Vista parental controls: Firefox 3 now is compatible with Vista’s control settings to disable file downloads.
- Anti-virus integration: Firefox 3 will inform antivirus software when downloading executables.
And there are other features, but the big picture is this: Mozilla recognizes that browsers are often the weak security link. As a result Mozilla is building in more features to plug-and-play with existing security software. It may not be a stretch to predict that many security features in existing suites will be built into future browsers.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
