Web Browser Security
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:53
If you are like most businesses, you have more on your plate than you have time to deal with. Keeping up with all the security issues that face your business can be a daunting task. One resource that can help you is the new Mozilla Plug-in Checker. This tool lets you determine which of the computer plug-ins you are currently using are outdated. While this may not have concerned you before, there is good reason to pay attention to your plug-ins.
Keeping your browser plug-ins up to date is important because browser-based attacks have increased over the past few years. Attacks against browser-based plug-ins, such as Adobe Reader used to view PDF files, have increased dramatically this year. Some researchers and vendors estimate that just the attacks using PDF exploits account for almost 30 percent of malware attacks. Like so much of the software we use, we must keep them updated to prevent or reduce security threats to our computer systems. Many operating systems and other software can be configured to automatically check for updates, but this type of feature for browser plug-ins is not currently available.
Plugin Checker
Mozilla’s plug-in checker is a web-based tool that allows you to see which plug-ins are outdated and should be updated and which ones are up to date. If the status of a plug-in cannot be determined, there is a research tag. When I tested the plug-in checker using one of my Linux computers, I received the research tag for a number of plug-ins that Mozilla had no information on. The checker is not one hundred percent effective, but, overall, it is a neat tool that saves you time determining the status of the plug-ins you are using.
Last year, Mozilla had a limited version of this, and I remember trying it a couple of times and thought it was a useful tool but had not done any further research into it at that time. As of the date of this writing, the plug-in checker works with Safari 4, Google Chrome 4, Opera 10.5 and Microsoft Internet Explorer IE7 and IE8. Of course, it also works with the Firefox browser. The plug-in checker currently compares plug-in versions you are using against the newest editions to determine if they are out of date.
This tool is integrated into Firefox 3.6 with the Firefox version having a few additional features such as warning users if they try to load or install an out dated plug-in. Mozilla also stated they will be adding a plug-in update service like they do for Firefox extensions some time in the near future.
Mozilla Plug-In Checker is a useful tool to make sure you have patched and updated the plug-ins you use so often with your browsers. It is especially important if you are not using Firefox 3.6 as your browser. If you have any opinions regarding the Plug-in Checker, please leave a comment.
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