[ubuntu-in] And we thought firefox was safe ( BBC NEWS Germany warns against Firefox use)

[Ramnarayan.K]

Guess it time to take the gloats back.

Funnily none of the popular open source websites are carrying this
news (see http://firefox.org/news/)

could only find some details here

http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Zero-day-exploit-for-Firefox-3-6-936124.html

However importantly the vulnerability is on wincedows only ,  however
BBC woul never mention that. Since they assume every one uses only  M$

ram

 BBC NEWS
Germany warns against Firefox use

The German government has warned its citizenry against the use of the
Firefox browser due to security issues.

The warning from the Federal Office for Information Security is an
echo of a similar pronouncement it made against Internet Explorer in
January.

The office warned that the Firefox vulnerability, confirmed by Firefox
makers, could allow hackers to run malicious programs on users'
computers.

A version of Firefox to be released at the end of the month will fix the bug.

A "beta" or test version of that release, Firefox 3.6.2, is already
available but has not yet been fully tested.

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has recommended that
users stop using Firefox until the tested fix is released - in a move
remarkably similar to the January announcement, in which France
followed suit just days later.

Fox swap?

The Firefox vulnerability was confirmed by maker Mozilla last week on
its security blog, when it promised that the next official release
would address the issue.

It is only the current version, Firefox 3.6, that is affected, and
given that prior releases have different vulnerabilities, reverting to
an older version of the browser is ill-advised.

Switching to a different browser may not be a good solution either,
said Graham Cluley, senior technologist at security firm Sophos.

"Switching your web browser willy-nilly as each new unpatched security
hole is revealed could cause more problems than it's worth," he said.

"What are you going to do when your replacement browser itself turns
out to contain a vulnerability?

"My advice is to only switch from Firefox if you really know what you
are doing with the browser you're swapping to. If you stick with
Firefox, apply the security update as soon as it's available."

Firefox was not immediately available for comment.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8580716.stm

Published: 2010/03/22 16:44:41 GMT

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