The tech savvy among you know that web browsers are no longer the number one target for malware and other online scams. Browsers are all getting much safer much faster since Firefox entered the market so the bad guys are targeting the less frequently updated and often times far less secure browser plug-ins. Most browser vendors don't control those plug-in so your browser can't completely cover that aspect of your Web safety. (Some browser vendors even knowingly ship insecure plug-ins.)
Well, at Firefox, we're not just punting and telling our users to contact their plug-in vendors. We're going that extra mile to try to help you keep those plug-ins secure.
The first step was our Flash Plug-in check that we rolled out with a recent Firefox 3.5 update.
Today, we're helping you take the second step with a much more comprehensive plug-in check.
Right now this page only works with Firefox, but we care about all of you and we're working to support those of you on other browsers as well. We're also working on integrating these checks directly into Firefox.
Outdated plug-ins are the number one source of crashes on the Web and leave more users open to security exploits than any program. Please tell your friends, family members, and co-workers about this new Plug-in Check service from Mozilla. The Web thanks you.
Posted by: Punning Pundit | October 14, 2009 1:54 PM
I have always been surprised that web browsers do not have auto-updates for plugins as well just like they do for browser updates and extension updates. At least ones like Flash and Java, who's older versions are constantly being exploited.
Posted by: Chris G. | October 14, 2009 1:54 PM
Talking about plugins, I'm surprised at how seldom the plugin installation thing actually works in Firefox.
Anyway, this whole plugin-check is a huge PR win for Mozilla if they get it working in other browsers too.
Posted by: David Naylor | October 14, 2009 2:08 PM
It's great that you are notifying users about Flash. Now, if we can just get notification of Firefox updates also!
See bugs 318855 and 407875. Those who run responsibly from limited accounts on Win XP still get no updates, and not even a notification. How about getting it in time for the 4th anniversary of the bug report?
Posted by: VanillaMozilla | October 14, 2009 2:27 PM
I wish Fx would get rid of extension (not plugin) notifications and general Fx updates and just install them automatically. I've never NOT wanted to install an update and I can't imagine why anyone (other than developers who can use about:config to disable it) would choose to use old versions. We get a bunch of mindless click-thrus while Chrome's auto-update is a smoother, more user-friendly experience.
I don't know about uninstalling plugins, but you can disable them from the addons windows which is almost as good.
Posted by: Ephilei | October 14, 2009 4:09 PM
I really wish going to that plugin page wouldn't make Firefox crash faster than anything I've ever seen before. It's like a total disaster!
Posted by: Laurence | October 15, 2009 6:13 AM
Great idea!
It's also helped me figure out why Flash has been so flaky on one of my Linux boxes. Plugin Check reported an older version than I thought I had, and a little investigation turned up that I had *two* versions on the machine: One 32-bit, installed through RPM and Adobe's official yum repository, up to date, and wrapped for 64-bit through nspluginwrapper....and one 64-bit, installed manually when Adobe posted a preview, that I'd forgotten about and hadn't updated.
Posted by: Kelson | October 15, 2009 9:24 AM
Laurence, can you type about:crashes in your addressbar and send me the links to your crash reports, please? asa@mozilla.org
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler | October 15, 2009 10:30 AM
Hey wait! I didn't know I had Yahoo Application State Plugin, iTunes Application Detector, Picasa, Windows Presentation Foundation, 2007 Microsoft Office system Office, among others. How do I get rid of them?
Scary that they can be installed without my knowledge, given how rigorously I check my aps..