Security and Firefox

Posted by Wyatt on Mon, 02/26/2007 - 17:09SFX Technical Issues

I am wondering as a user and as a webmaster who works to spread the word about a security issue.  A friend took her machine to her "computer guy" after not being able to access her online banking.  His diagnosis was that she had been hacked via some code involved with Firefox.  They hadn't gotten her banking information yet, but did mess things up so she couldn't get in either.  My question is this.  Could this be true, or is her "guy" wrong?  Are we vulnerable to hacking through coding?

 

What are the thoughts on this?

 

Wyatt 


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More info?
Submitted by aggro on Mon, 02/26/2007 - 21:39.

With the information you gave, it is impossible to say is that true or not, but I can say that it is possible, but very unlikely.

I read a lot of different news and sources about security especially related to Firefox and I don't know any small or large scale attacks against the users of Firefox that would infect the computer via a security hole in Firefox. (There is some viruses that target Firefox or many different browsers, once they get into the computer, but all of those come via email or other sources which Firefox can't control.)

So personally I wouldn't bulieve that without better proofs and actually if that is true, I think it would make a headline in a few news-sites.

So if possible, ask more information about this. If this is related to virus or a malware, what is the name of it and how did it get to the computer (and how does he know it). And how does he know that it is related to Firefox at all. Basicly I would be interested in all and any information there is about this subject. I'm a professional programmer so he can freely use as professional languages as he can.

It is also possible to hack one's computer via Java, Flash, Quicktime or other plugin that interacts with the browser. It doesn't usually matter what browser you are using since the plugin is not directly related to the browser, even the browser is what starts it.

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Please don't double post.
Submitted by ottodv on Mon, 02/26/2007 - 21:29.

Please don't double post. You've posted the exact same thing here. I posted a reply there.

Otto

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