Firefox 58 Released for Linux, Mac, and Windows

Status
Not open for further replies.

LASER_oneXM

Level 37
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 4, 2016
2,520
The Mozilla Foundation has made Firefox 58 files available for download on its official FTP servers. An official announcement will be made later today when the organization will also release the final changelog.

Firefox 58 marks the first major release since mid-November last year, when Mozilla released Firefox 57, a version that overhauled large parts of the Firefox codebase, including its old add-on system, with Mozilla choosing a new system based on the Chromium-compatible and standardized WebExtensions API.

Work has continued on improving Firefox performance
These changes have continued two months later, in today's Firefox 58 release. Except for a few changes to Firefox's settings panel, most of the new Firefox features are under the browser's hood.

For example, Firefox 58 comes with a new feature called Off-Main-Thread painting, which are improvements to Firefox's built-in graphics engine.

There is also a new system called the JavaScript Startup Bytecode Cache (JSBC) for improving the browser startup time, and the integration of WebRender, a new web-rendering engine initially developed for Mozilla Servo testbed browser, and which has now been integrated into Firefox. Other under-the-hood feature improvements are detailed here.
 

Windows_Security

Level 24
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Mar 13, 2016
1,298
I have critized Firefox for laggings even years behind Chrome and IE (Edge) in regard to Low Integrity Level rights sandboxing (Security/Sandbox - MozillaWiki). Okay on Windows 8 and up, Chrome and Edge are still better choices, because of AppContainer sandbox in regard to security, but....

On Windows 7 (which I have running on my desktop) partial rust langauge code (less memory vulnerabilities than C++) and the advantage of being in a smaller user hurdle (less attractive to malware writers), compensates the Chrome's Untrusted sandbox (which has less rights than Low IL) and superior Chrome fault (and regression) testing infrastructure (see f.i. GTAC 2016: Presentations | Google Test Automation Conference | Google Developers). This automated testing infrastructure and Project Zero are probably the reason why Chrome has a clean slate.

In 2010 I thought this was impossible, but for personal browsing I have switched to Firefox (it is also an advantage to have one browser for work, Chromium, with its own bookmark set and other browser, FF, for personal use with a different set of bookmarks).

For reference I have Chromium (Woolyss stable) running with Blank New Tab Page, Auto Wipe History, Neat Bookmarks and Nano Adblocker. On Firefix I don't need add-ons to get the functionality of Blank New Tab Page and Auto Wipe History. I could install uBlock on FF, but embedded adblocker works fine now with simple DoNotTrack adfilter.

Good job Mozilla
 
Last edited:

Windows_Security

Level 24
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Mar 13, 2016
1,298
I also had to rehab from using an Antivirus ;), so a browser without any add-on feels a bit naked to :unsure:

So I looked at Firefox add-ons and noticed that the Indian Gov sponsored Browser JSGuard was updated in January this year. So I googled and found an old study on Browser JSGuard https://psylab.cc/load/Browser_JS_Guard_Detects_and_Defends_aga.pdf

CDAC study extract said:
In this paper, Browser JS Guard is presented for analyzingand detecting malicious JavaScript injections in the incom-ing web pages. Testing has been performed on JSGuard using known Genuine and Malicious URLs. JSGuard has detected the malicious webpages with low rate of false positives (0.72 %) and false negatives (9.04 %). JS Guard installed web browser have taken 180 ms more time for loading a webpage when compared with the page load time of the web browser when JSGuard is not installed

When I understand this correctly, than a false begatives rate of 9,04% translates to a blockrate of 90.96% malicious pages. I have installed it to see whether the false positives (blocking genuine webpages) of less than 1% is acceptable in real world browsing.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top