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Rare Malware Only Targets Firefox

Paul Lilly — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:56:56 -0600

One of the advantages with Firefox that has helped it move up in market share is the perception of a more secure browser over Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Whether or not IE has managed to level the security playing field is a topic for another post, but there's at least one new piece of malware specifically designed to go after just Firefox users.

Researchers at BitDefender discovered the nasty piece of code, which they're calling Trojan.PWS.Chromelnject.A. According to Viorel Canja, the head of BitDefender's lab, the new malware resides in Firefox's add-ons folder and uses JavaScript to harvest financial information.

"Trojan.PWS.ChromeInject.A filters data sent by the user to over 100 online banking websites," BitDefender warned in a press release. "The banking websites include: bankofamerica.com, chase.com, halifax-online.co.uk, wachovia.com, paypal.com, and e-gold.com."

One the malware identifies one of the websites, it records the user's login information and forwards it along to a server in Russia, and not for safe keeping.

Firefox Market Share Breaks 20%

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:08:21 -0600

What was once a cult classic has finally hit the big-time – Mozilla’s Firefox web browser (the one that you’re possibly using right now!) has finally broken 20% market share amongst all web browsers. This move dropped Microsoft’s Internet Explorer down to roughly 70%.

Thanks to some data published by Net Applications, we’ve got some exact numbers regarding this matter. Official information for the month of November list Firefox with 20.78% of the market share, up from 19.97% in October. Internet Explorer is now holding only 69.77% of the share, with Apple’s Safari holding a respectable 6.57% and third place. Google’s fancy new flagship browser has been moving fast, hurdling over Opera’s 0.71%, with their own share of 0.83%.

If you’re one of the many that have downloaded, and use Firefox on a regular basis, good for you! I’m sure they’re grateful for the help. If you haven’t given it a whirl yet, there’s never been a better time. It’s a mighty solid platform that’s worthy of your download.

Firefox's Market Share at Record High, Still a Distant Second to Internet Explorer

Paul Lilly — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:15:47 -0600

Mozilla's open-source Firefox browser continues to gain ground in the browser wars in what can be considered a major uphill battle. Firefox has flirted with a steady 20 percent market share in the past, and according to Net Applications, October has been kind to the configurable browser, which settled in at 19.97 percent. That number represents a 0.51-point jump over September and is a record high for Mozilla.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Internet Explorer slipped again last month, continuing its trend as having the fastest declining market share out of the six most popular browsers. But far from being a free fall of sorts, IE's combined share nestled in at a still very dominant 71.52 percent, down from 71.27 percent one month prior. That puts IE at a 4.2-point drop for the year, compared to Firefox's 2.99-point gain.

It will be interesting to see what kind of effect Google's Chrome browser may have on the top two contenders. Currently, Chrome only accounts for a 0.74 percent slice of the browser pie (down from 0.78 percent), but that could change if Google follows through with adding extension support.

Hit the jump and tell us how you see the browser wars shaking out in 2009 and beyond.

No Surprise: Firefox 3.1 Beta Is Even Faster Than Firefox 3

Alex Castle — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:15:04 -0500

The first Firefox 3.1 beta has been made available for download, bringing with it a number of cool new features. However, possibly the coolest of those features, the lightning-fast TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, is disabled by default. Fortunately, it’s a quick fix to turn it on, and Seth Rosenblatt at CNET explains how:

“To activate it, type "about:config" into the Smart Bar, then type "javascript.options.jit.content" into the filter. Double-click on the preference listed to change the boolean setting from "false" to "true." Close the window and you should notice an immediate improvement to the JavaScript rendering speed.”

He used the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark test to demonstrate the improvements in the new engine, which completed the test in 2788 milliseconds, compared to 5447 ms for Firefox 3.0.3. Always the skeptics, we tried the benchmark ourselves, and witnessed an even more dramatic improvement. For us, speed more than doubled, from 4725 ms to 2227 ms.

So if you’re trying out the 3.1 beta, enable the TraceMonkey engine and see what it can do for you. Share your experiences after the jump.

IE and Firefox Were the Browser Losers in September

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:44:55 -0500

According to a new report from Net Applications, both Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers saw a drop in market share last month. That shouldn't come as a big surprise considering that Google's Chrome browser made its debut in the same time period, but what's interesting to note is that the combined drop exceeds the gains posted by Chrome.

At some point, Microsoft has to be getting concerned. IE still dominates the browser landscape by a wide margin, but that won't always be the case if it keeps giving up market share. IE slid .63 points to 71.52 percent in September, which adds up to a 3.95-point drop on the year, or down 5.2 percent. Firefox's slide was a little less slippery at .22 points settling in at 19.46 percent, and has gained ground on the year with a 2.48-point climb, or up 14.6 percent.

It also wouldn't take a leap of faith to assume most Chrome users were previously surfing with IE and Firefox, and if true, that would mean more IE users made the jump than those using Firefox. You can draw your own conclusion on that one.

Early Chrome Adopters Reverting Back to IE, FF

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:10:13 -0500

Leading internet research firm Net Applications has revealed that many early Chrome adopters are now reverting back to Internet Explorer and Firefox. User comfort is finally overcoming the curiosity that the browser initially educed.

Net Applications’ latest weekly browser usage figures are out. Chrome accounted for only 0.77% of all internet traffic in its third week - down from .85% in the preceding week.

The data also has brought to light another peculiar trend: usage of Google’s browser shoots considerably in the evening and wanes during working hours.

Mozilla Plans Firefox Mobile Web Browser by 2010

Paul Lilly — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:36:29 -0500

One of the commonly accepted keys to success is to write down your goals, and Mozilla has done just that. The open-source software company has identified four areas it would like to improve by 2010:

Deepen Mozilla's role as a centerpiece of the internet
Data leadership
Mobile
Continue Firefox mindshare and marketshare momentum

Of most interest is Mozilla's focus on mobility and by 2010, the company plans to "have an effective product in the mobile market." That plan appears to include getting its TraceMonkey engine fine tuned to run on ARM processors. Preliminary results look very promising, though it's anyone's guess as to when Firefox Mobile will show up on handheld devices, with Mozilla saying only that it "will ship well before" 2010.

IE 8 Gains Fans Quickly, but Enough to Reclaim Lost IE Market Share?

Paul Lilly — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:06:14 -0500

According to daily browsing statistics provided by Net Applications, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 has garnered a fair bit of interest from users, with the latest beta increasing market share from 0.23 percent at the beginning of the month to now sitting at 0.41 percent. Still, Google's new Chrome browser (also in beta form) has been more popular, breaching the 1 percent mark early in September and now claiming 0.79 percent of the market.

Looking at the overall picture, Microsoft can't be too concerned. Net Applications notes an average market share for IE 7 and IE 6 of 46.38 and 24.08 percent respectively, which when combined with IE 8's 0.31 percent average, has Internet Explorer still dominating the browser wars with 70.82 percent of the market in the first half of September. In August, IE claimed a slightly larger slice at 72.15 percent.

Meanwhile, open-source stalwart Firefox also noted a slight drop since August, with combined market share taking a small dip from 19.73 percent to 19.38 percent. What's interesting to note here is that Microsoft's IE 6 still grabs a larger share than all three Firefox browsers combined.

Hit the jump and let us know what browser you're using.