Nowadays, according to Mozilla Firefox official website, Mozilla developers have launched a new online tool that tells Firefox users whether popular add-on components such as Java or QuickTime are up to date, which is designed to heighten the security of Firefox browser.
The tool is called Plugin Check. It detects all plug-ins for Firefox and advises users if they are outdated. It sounds like no big deal, but you have to consider how many security threats are posed by plug-ins. One example is the seemingly endless exploits associated withAdobe Systems Flash plug-in. Plug-ins are bits of code created to extend the feature set of browsers and are often created by independent developers not associated with the browser’s creators, i.e, Mozilla for Firefox or Microsoft for Internet Explorer.
In fact, keeping plugins up-to-date is becoming increasingly important. Mozilla says that about 30 percent of browser crashes are caused by obsolete plugins. Besides that annoyance, however, they also pose a security risk. That’s because out-of-date plugins are increasingly exploited by hackers in Web-based attacks that place malicious software on the victim’s computer. Flaws in Adobe’s Flash and pdf formats, Apple’s QuickTime, and RealPlayer have all been widely exploited in this way in the past few years.
However, security conscious Firefox users can use the Plugin Check site for now, but the checks will be built into the upcoming Firefox 3.6 browser, expected by year’s end Nightingale said. That should help keep many more Firefox users up-to-date.
Even better, Mozilla plans to add the Plugin Check as a built-in feature in future versions of Firefox. Of course, I’d recommend visiting Plugin Check once a month or so, just to make sure you’re not running any outdated Plugins