Firefox 7 Update Fixes Critical Security Flaws

Mozilla has released a new version of its popular Firefox Web browser that fixes 11 security flaws and greatly reduces the amount of memory the browser needs to function.

In a blog post called “Firefox 7 is lean and fast,” Mozilla explained that the new Firefox, version 7, uses 20 to 30 percent less memory than its predecessor, and in some cases as much as 50 percent less.  In turn, said the posting, “the websites you use will be snappier, more responsive, and suffer fewer pauses.”

Along with the speed increase, Mozilla said it fixed 11 security flaws in Firefox 7, including several “critical” ones that could allow an attacker to remotely crash an infected system or, in the case of one vulnerability, “infer keystrokes from motion data.”

Firefox 7 can be downloaded from Mozilla’s website. But make sure it’s the correct site, www.mozilla.org, because if it’s not, you could be in trouble.

At least one rogue websites has already been set up offering the free software. Spotted by the researchers from the security firm Sophos, the site, called Firefox7.org, appears as the second result under a Google search for “Firefox 7.”

The Firefox7.org page sits on a blogspot page called “mozillas” but is not run by Mozilla and will not help you download the new Firefox. Instead, Sophos wrote, navigating to the fake Firefox update page could potentially land you in murky waters; although the phony site doesn’t appear to contain any malware, it “could be updated at any time” to do so.

This isn’t the Firefox impersonator’s first attempt. In the comments section of the Sophos post, readers claim that the owner of Firefox7.org also owns Firefox4.com, Firefox6.org, Firefox9.org and the cleverly misspelled Mozilas.com.

Article provided by SecurityNewsDaily, a sister site to Laptopmag.com.

• 8 Ways to Protect Your Email Account
• Web Browsers Prepare to Battle BEAST
• Internet Browser Software Review