ID: IRCNE2012031439
Date: 2012-03-17
According to "zdnet", Mozilla plans to add a silent automatic patching utility into Firefox 13 as part of a plan to “cater to update fatigue.”
Firefox currently offers an automatic updater but the process is not silent and requires that the end user click to apply the patch after it’s downloaded.
With the silent updater, Firefox security patches will be downloaded and installed silently in the background.
The “What’s New” page displayed after an update can now be displayed depending if there is important information needed to be displayed to the end user, Nyman said.
Google has fitted a silent auto-updater into the Chrome browser and there is word Adobe will do the same for its Flash Player software.
For years, security practitioners have argued against silent patching, warning that end users should know — and consent to — what’s being changed on the machine but, according to a study conducted jointly by Google Switzerland and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the silent updaters in browsers enhance security.
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