WatchGuard Wire
Improve Your Security IQ
Firefox 3.5 speeds up browsing and adds privacy features.
30 June 09 -- Wire followers won't be surprised to know that I'm an avid Firefox user (in large part due to a great security related extension called NoScript), which is why I happily jumped on the new version 3.5 upgrade Mozilla released today.
On the surface, you won't notice much difference when you open Firefox 3.5. However, the popular browser has undergone significant overhauls under the hood. Most of Firefox's changes involve speed improvements. While I haven't done any real technical speed tests, the new version seems more snappy, especially when handling JavaScript heavy pages. Lately, I've gone back to using Safari 4 on my Macbook Pro simply because of its speed. With Firefox 3.5's new improvements, I can return to my preferred browser on my Mac. Yay!
Firefox 3.5 doesn't add a ton of new security features, but there are a few worth noting. The most obvious one is Firefox's new "Private Browser" mode. In this mode, Firefox does not store any potentially sensitive data (history, cookies, temporary files, etc.) related to your browsing session. This is a great mode to enable if you ever find yourself browsing at a kiosk computer. I haven't really tried this feature yet, but I assume it probably works as well as similar features found in competitive web browsers. Firefox 3.5 also adds a "behind-the-scenes" security feature by introducing a new header to HTTP requests called the Origin header. Pete Freitag explains a few of the potential security benefits to this new header in his blog post. I suspect this new header may also help Mozilla implement their new Content Security Policy (CSP).
While it doesn't fix a bunch of new security vulnerabilities (at least Mozilla hasn't announced if it does), Firefox 3.5's speed and privacy improvements were enough to sell me. If you're a Firefox lover, I recommend you give the new update a try. -- Corey Nachreiner, CISSP
Copyright© 2009 WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc. You may copy and distribute this article freely in any medium as long as you copy and distribute the entire article without change and preserve this copyright statement and notice.
|
