Check Out The New Features in Mozilla Firefox 4

Almost after 8 months of its first beta release, Mozilla Firefox 4 is here with us. The launch time is also significant because it is released just eight days after Microsoft IE 9's official launch. Firefox 4 was originally scheduled to launch in November 2010. Damon Sicore, Mozilla's senior director of platform engineering, said in a message on a company forum,

"Today's triage session concluded with all systems go for a Firefox 4 launch on March 22."

Users running Firefox 3.5 or 3.6 can download the latest version by selecting "Check for updates" from the Help menu. While users running Firefox 4 RC, need not download anything as Mozilla deems that build identical to the final.

Firefox 4 for Windows, Mac and Linux is available in more than 70 languages. And yes, Firefox 4 supports Windows XP too, unlike IE 9 which supports Windows Vista and Windows 7. So, here's looking into all that is new in Firefox 4.

Tab Location:

Tabs are given top visual priority for intuitive browsing.

An easier way to manage your add-ons and discover new options for personalising your browsing.

Speed

Firefox 4 contains huge performance enhancements, including new JagerMonkey JavaScript engine. From faster start up times and graphics rendering to improved page load speed, Mozilla claims that users will notice the difference instantly.

HD Video

As pioneers of HTML5 video standards, Firefox also supports the WebM format so you can watch open HD quality video.

Changes to the C++ representation of JavaScript values allow Firefox to execute heavy, numeric code more efficiently, resulting in cleaner graphics and a better browsing experience.

Multi-touch Support

Firefox now integrates multi-touch support for Windows 7, enabling users to interact with their browser in a new way.

3D On the Web

WebGL brings 3D graphics to Firefox, opening the door for developers to create vivid games and new kinds of visualizations and experiences for the Web.

Firefox also starts up faster thanks to XPCOM module improvements that help in better extensions framework

New Fonts

Firefox 4's OpenType font feature gives designers and developers more control over a variety of font features -- like kerning or ligatures -- to create websites. There's also support for new CSS3 features like Transitions and Transformations.

Upgrading Forms

Firefox integrated Form features like list attributes and HTML5 validation provide the tools to make annoying form implementation development a thing of the past. A new HTML5 parser and full support for web video, audio, drag & drop, and file handling means Firefox 4 is ready to run the Web apps.

Full Hardware Acceleration

Users can experience fast graphics acceleration with Direct2D and Direct3D on Windows, XRender on Linux and OpenGL on Mac, now enabled by default, on all supported hardware.

SVG as Images

SVG files can now be used as images and backgrounds in Firefox, meaning that developers and designers can have performance-conscious websites with lighter, resolution-independent image files.

Compartments

Firefox can now better manage JavaScript objects with Compartments, offering improved cache utilisation and garbage collection mechanisms for better security, memory management and overall performance.

Crash Protection

Firefox provides uninterrupted browsing for Windows, Linux and now Mac when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins. If one of these commonly-used plugins crashes or freezes, it won’t affect the rest of Firefox. Instead, user can simply reload the page to restart the plugin and try again.

HSTS

Sites can now keep attackers from intercepting sensitive data while accessing the site by telling Firefox to automatically establish secure connections to their servers (https).

Trojan Horses Are Still Lives - Threat For Your PC

The Trojan horse still lives. Never download an unsolicited email attachment, as it may be embedded with the deadly Trojan virus, which could wreak havoc on your computer.

Recently in San Francisco, Uri Rivner, head of new technologies at RSA, the security division of EMC, said Trojan horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. It even puts online banking passwords at risk.

Rivner said Trojans are highly sophisticated, easy to use malware (malicious software) and don't cost much. Their distribution is also quite simple. The infection mechanism is very effective. It can get into your computer system if you go to a hijacked, but legitimate-looking website or if you are tricked into downloading a link or email attachment.

Once in the computer, it can give the malware creator complete remote control of your machine. The virus may sit dormant until you visit the website of a bank or a credit card company or other financial institution, whereupon it secretly records the passwords, account details and other confidential information.

A Trojan Virus can record every keyboard stroke of the user. The stolen details are then sent back to the Trojan operator, who uses them in online fraud scams like transferring money from banks.

Rivner says the two most dangerous Trojans are Zeus and SpyEye. Millions of computers across the world are infected by these Trojans. These two malwares are now merging. SpyEye is taking over Zeus operations, Rivner adds.

Rivner says cyber criminals know that it's hard to take on the bank's systems, so they attack the weakest link in the chain, that is, the online bank customers. The new Trojan virus can empty bank accounts without the owner knowing about the theft, as it shows him fake statements or gives him an illusion that everything is in order.

It's only when he goes to the ATM to collect cash or when he gets the hard copy of the bank statement that the reality dawns on him.

However, Rivner says it is relatively easy to protect against Trojan attacks by installing antivirus software and keeping it up to date. Users should keep their anti-spyware and firewalls set to the highest level.

But more importantly, computer users should be more circumspect when receiving an email or a download. "Even if you receive a link from a friend, be a little suspicious,"

he cautions.

Local Money Mules

Many of the cyber criminals carrying out this type of fraud are located abroad, so they need a local money mule to send them the funds overseas. A mule is a person who allows his bank account to be used by fraudsters to transfer illicit gains to overseas accounts.

A mule account is a legal bank account held by a real customer. He says many such mules are job seekers, who are promised handsome commissions in exchange for channelling funds overseas.

"Once recruited, the mule will receive the stolen funds in his account. He is then required to withdraw the funds and send them abroad, using a legitimate money transfer service. Often the mules are innocent victims. They believe they are working for a legitimate business,"

says Rivner.

Rivner says banks are aware of this malware. They have put in place better authentication methods and defence mechanisms to keep out fraudsters. One of them is to send a tracker id number or code number to the online bank customer on his mobile phone via SMS.

It asks the customer to fill that number on the web page while transferring any amount through Net banking. So even if an attacker piggybacks on that session via the Trojan to make any fraudulent transaction, he can't finish the process till he has furnished the code number.

And under no circumstances will he have this crucial code number unless he has also stolen your mobile phone along with hijacking your web page. "So netbanking can be made safe," Rivner says.