Firefox adds Flash plug-in update protection
Mozilla's next update for Firefox, slated to ship Tuesday, will check for outdated versions of Flash Player, a frequent target of hackers, the company said on Friday.
The move is the open-source browser maker's opening salvo against out-of-date, open-to-attack plug-ins from vendors like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft and Sun.
One security expert applauded the news. "This is a great way of improving the security of Web browsers," said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer at security firm Qualys, in a blog entry Saturday. "Flash is often used by attackers to exploit client machines and unfortunately notoriously difficult to update, requiring, on Windows, different update packages for Internet Explorer and all other browsers."
