Mozilla to Block Offline Add-on Installation in Upcoming Firefox Version


Recommended Posts

Mozilla to Block Offline Add-on Installation in Upcoming Firefox Version

In an attempt to resolve performance issues Mozilla plans to block the offline installation of add-ons, a measure that will also impact security in a good way.

Mozilla intends to make a series of add-on-related changes that involve the introduction of automatic performance testing, slow performance warnings, and most importantly, from a security perspective, mandatory opt-in installation.

This means that no third-party program will be able to install extensions, toolbars or plug-ins by placing files directly in the Firefox directory. This is actually an attack vector that has been discussed and criticized before by the security community.

Back in December 2008, security researchers from Bit Defender found a trojan that worked as a Firefox extension and stole online banking credentials. The trojan was being installed by other infections and was registering itself as "Greasemonkey," a legit and relatively popular extension.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mozilla-to-Block-Offline-Add-on-Installation-in-Upcoming-Firefox-Version-192843.shtml

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...